Doug Stirling celebrates 102nd birthday

FOR 102-year-old Lorne resident and local legend Doug Stirling, his birthday on Saturday could not have gone any better.

Mr Stirling celebrated his 102nd lap around the sun in sunny Queensland last weekend but began celebrations in his beloved hometown of Lorne from Monday last week.

Community Bank Surf Coast started celebrations with a special birthday gathering for Doug at The River Bank Café.

He was then welcomed by friends at the Lorne Men’s Shed later that week, where he was “almost bowled over” with love.

“I’m feeling very sprightly at the young age of 102. I think I’m starting to get the hang of it,” Mr Stirling said.

“It was a lovely time down there at the café, wonderful people all of them, then on Thursday I was met with friends singing me happy birthday at the Men’s Shed wearing party hats.

“They were all sitting there waiting for me when I walked in. It nearly blew me over, I was that surprised.”

 

 

Lorne celebrated birthdays for two other local legends in the same fortnight, with Betty Thompson turning 95 and Loris Yorke joining Mr Stirling in the centenary club, turning 100.

Mr Stirling recalled his time growing up in Lorne, which he described as “his oyster” as a youthful young man.

“Growing up there as a kid was wonderful. We had the whole coast to explore, and we ate anything that wouldn’t eat us.

“We had fern gullies all around the place and creepers we used to swing around on like Tarzan, and whenever we used to munch on a few apples from one of the orchards, it used to upset one of our school teachers as we always arrived to school with belly aches.

“Just little things like that growing up I still remember pretty clearly.”

 

 

Mr Stirling also recently began calling himself a great-great grandfather, following the birth of great-great-granddaughter Kalani.

“I make emphasis on the great-great part of it all, because we now have Kalani in the family circle and she’s quite energetic, but I would not have imagined a better way to celebrate my birthday, surrounded by those closest to me.”

Mr Stirling said he wasn’t thinking too hard about his 103rd birthday on July 27, 2025, but rather enjoying one day at a time.

The Doug and Mary Stirling Community Cup, a community leadership award named after Mr Stirling and his late wife, is awarded to one Lorne resident every two years.