It was a big week of celebrations for Toowoomba local, Mervyn Dowzer, who celebrated his 100th birthday this week.
Mervyn was treated to a delicious morning tea at his Symes Thorpe Residential Aged Care home on Tuesday and was elated to spend quality time with his family and friends.
Symes Thorpe Lifestyle Lead, Toni Kelly said Mervyn really enjoyed the celebration.
“It worked out perfectly,” she said. “We had Merv’s daughter and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren from Melbourne here and it was a beautiful morning tea with all the residents and his fellow friends.
“Merv has a good personality. He loves to laugh, and he loves to sing with you. He is a fantastic man. Happy 100th birthday Merv.”
His daughter, Helen said her dad has always been a “calming presence” throughout her life.
“He was the one who took me down the slippery slide, he’d take me fishing, we’d garden together, and we did lots of things together,” she said.
“It has always been the simple things in life are the things that make you happy and that is how our lives have always been. Simple but happy together.
“I really appreciated my childhood. I appreciate all the fun things we did. Mum and Dad would always go fishing so we lived on fish. Dad would grow veggies and strawberries. We had strawberries every night, it was lovely.”
Mervyn met his wife, Maureen, while they were working at Queensland Country Traders at North Quay in Brisbane’s North. Merv was a storeman and Maureen was a packer. They worked packaging all sorts of boiled ginger and sugars.
After getting married in Brisbane’s Methodist Church in Albert Street on October 16, 1948, Merv and Maureen became business owners running a little corner store in Paddington. A few trips in the caravan later and Maureen gave birth to their lovely daughter Helen.
On October 16, Merv and Maureen will celebrate their 74th wedding anniversary.
Maureen’s advice for a happy marriage is “consideration for each other, always talking things through,” she said.
The couple’s granddaughter, Katelyn, travelled from Melbourne with her two children Ella and Max for the celebration of her grandad’s 100th birthday.
“It was a lovely celebration for my grandad,” she said.
“My husband and I often talk about the simplicity of my grandparent’s life where they semi-retired when they were young and really, they lived such a frugal life, but they didn’t want for anything else.
“My grandad, in particular, never let anything bother him. He would have gone through so much, but he’s always remained calm throughout his life.”
Merv and Maureen have two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
