100 good ones: Harold to be Bellarine’s next centenarian

BARWON Heads will gain a new centenarian this weekend when Harold Davis celebrates his 100th birthday.

Davis retired to Barwon Heads with his wife Alice in 1986 and will mark his birthday on 17 May.

The former teacher spent his working life travelling around the state with his wife, teaching at various schools before retiring to the Bellarine for a quiet, coastal life.

“I’m over the moon; not everybody gets to be 100,” Davis said.

“It’s a pretty good one.”

Born in Maryborough in 1926, Davis became an assistant teacher when he was 16 before attending teachers college when he turned 18.

 

His early postings, including in Castlemaine and Joyce’s Creek, were at one-teacher schools, where he honed his teaching skills.

A keen athlete at the time, standing at an impressive 1.93m (6ft 4in), Davis was also a prized recruit for local football clubs and played until he was almost 40.

Father to six children – two daughters and four sons – Davis met his late wife while staying at a guest house.

“There were two young girls in the lounge playing Chinese Checkers. I said, ‘Can I join in?'” Davis said.

“It turned out one of the girls that was there had just had her birthday. I happened to say I just had my birthday and she said ‘So have I’.

 

“Turns out she was just a few days older than me. Eventually we got together and we were married.”

The pair were married for just shy of 50 years before Alice passed away in 2011.

Their eldest daughter, Allyson – named after actress June Allyson – had long hoped for a sister.

“Allyson had been the first, and she wasn’t very happy about all the boys coming,” Davis said.

“After having four boys, a sister came along, and she got her wish in the end.”

From television and home phones to mobile phones, Davis has watched technology evolve dramatically across his lifetime.

 

While he has tried to keep pace, he admits some of the more recent developments have passed him by.

What he has not missed though is the rapid expansion of the Bellarine Peninsula.

“When I first came to Barwon Heads it was a sleepy little hollow,” he said.

“It’s been interesting. We had some friends down here and we used to go out fishing down the river.

“A lot of my friends have passed on now. Barwon Heads is a busy metropolis nowadays.”

 

Still living at home, with support from his daughter Linda, Davis said he has had a very enjoyable life.

As for the secret to making it to triple digits, he did not hesitate.

“The secret is to never smoke,” Davis said.

“Anybody that smokes, they don’t need to worry about getting to 100.”

Davis will celebrate his birthday on Sunday 17 May with a gathering of his friends and family from across the country.