By Eric Martin
The man walking spritely through Thomas Perrott Retirement Village, Rossmoyne, is dressed for a party and sporting several war medals, and following him through the twists and turns of the complex’s gardens to join him, it is quickly apparent that for this centenarian, age really is just a number – even if it is now in the triple figures.
John Taylor’s 100th birthday party on 12 June coincided with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the village was keen to make the most of the occasion to get together and celebrate this milestone, especially for a man who has lived there for some 28 years and has helped most of his neighbours at one time or another.
John has spent more time retired than most people have working and for him, staying active and pursuing new interests to keep himself engaged has played a big part in living life to the full. Surrounding John and his guests is a selection of his paintings, a mix of landscapes that capture historical elements of interest, and testament to just one of the new skills he has acquired.
John, who calls himself a “signal-man”, spent most of his working life either installing or managing teams of technicians, installing what would become telecommunications infrastructure, but retired before computers and mobile networks became such a central feature of our phones.
“Digging holes and climbing poles,” John says about his career during his speech. “And then running wires everywhere in between.”
Rather than be left behind, John applied himself to staying up to date with the changing shape of the digital world and is now, according to his good friend Rosemary, in constant demand around the village for his technical skills.
Originally, it was a skill that John learned as a young man, after leaving school, just before the outbreak of World War II and it served him well as he served his country, running communications wires for the Army in the Pacific Theatre.
He saw action at the Battle of Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea where the Japanese suffered their first land defeat.
Returning to Australia, the now-Sergeant Taylor continued to follow his trade and he recalls the intricacies of wiring up a switchboard.
Harking back to a bygone era where the local council was a far more lenient bureaucracy, John built his house in Applecross with his own two hands, placing each brick and beam in the family home he shared with his wife May and their four children.
Satisfied with this achievement, he then pitched in with several fellow parishioners to build the original Applecross Parish St Benedict’s Church.
One of John’s paintings, he explains to guests, shows the roof of that church nestled among the trees of the landscape.
On another table, are the cards received on one’s 100th birthday from important persons such as Her Majesty the Queen and Australia’s Prime Minister, the Hon. Scott Morrison MP.
But this pales in significance compared to the contents of the next table: a magnificent 100th birthday cake.
Some 50 people join to sing Happy
Birthday as John blows out the candles and deftly wields the knife to start
cutting and handing out slices of cake to those who can still fit anything in
after a generous sitting of biscuits, scones, and other party fare.
And though the village party has come to an end, the celebrations will continue
for John, who got to do it all over again the following day, this time with his
family (including eight grandchildren and some 16 great grandchildren).
“I’ll see you all here in 100 years” John quips in closing.