Sport, Good Genes and the Right People – 100 Years of Colin

Colin says the key to reaching 100 is simple: “keep moving and being active,” he says. “And good genes help.”

His five aunties and three uncles lived long lives. His father was the exception, passing away young from a war injury. 

“You also need a bit of luck, and to fall in with the right people,” he adds. “Play sport, keep the mind going, and have a job you enjoy.”

He grew up in Moonah, surrounded by family who looked out for him. Sport was at the centre of his community life – tennis, football, cricket, golf and school sports. “Anything going, I’d give it a go,” he says.

At 16, he left school and started his first job as an apprentice builder. Everything was done with hand tools. “It worked the body and the mind. I loved it.”

The moment he wishes everyone could experience is a happy home life.

He met Molly at the Belvedere. He thinks back to how beautiful she was and says she had done some modelling and worked as a window dresser. “She was a beautiful person,” he says.

They both loved dancing, and they built a life together that he remembers with warmth.

One memory that has never faded is Black Friday.

Colin had been at Cornelian Bay when the smoke came in thick and fast. He made his way home by following the fence line. When he arrived, his mother was distraught. She had been out searching for him on the back of a neighbour’s motorbike, something completely out of character for her. “She was beside herself,” he says.

If he could return to any day, he’d choose one from his late teens, out on the cricket or football field. “It felt like anything was possible,” he says. He didn’t think much about the future then – he just enjoyed life as it happened.

Colin is proud of the homes he built and renovated: the house in Howrah where he lived for more than 25 years, and the home he built in Clunie Close, Lindisfarne.

“I’m very proud of that,” he says.

His favourite song is As Time Goes By. One thing he wishes he’d followed through on is music, Colin started learning piano but didn’t continue.

“I regret not keeping on with it,” he says.

His advice is straightforward:

“Keep active and give everything a go.”

And his view on Respect is just as clear: treat others as you’d like to be treated and be truthful.