Staying Out of Trouble – 100 years of Alan

Alan has made it to 100 and he will be the first to tell you he never saw it coming.

“Never thought I would make it to 100,” he says, and there is something genuinely delightful about a man who spent three decades shunting steam trains around Melbourne and the Wimmera, ran a corner store, travelled the world with his wife and still considers staying out of trouble his greatest life strategy.

He spent more than 30 years working on the railways as a shunter, mostly around Melbourne and the Wimmera, working mainly with steam trains.

It was a working life he is genuinely proud of, and you can hear it when he talks about it. 

The other great chapter of his life was Esme. They married in 1952 and built something together that went well beyond a shared home. 

The two of them ran a corner store side by side, travelled to New Zealand and loved it so much they stayed for three years.

They also travelled around Australia together. When Alan thinks back on the best days of his life, those trips with Esme are the ones that come to mind.

His secret is straightforward: stay out of trouble, exercise, look after yourself and don’t eat too much. His advice follows the same thread: don’t go out at night, stay safe and keep yourself out of harm’s way.

Simple words, but they have clearly served him well.

He is happy to say that he tried everything he wanted in his life. When asked what Respect means to him he says “the people and staff look after him well.” 

One hundred years of quiet determination, hard work and a life built alongside the right person.