Centenarian’s lifetime devotion to faith, family By PEACE IJIYERA   MEET Regina Kukla, the latest centenarian in town. Ms Kukla turned 100 surrounded by 85 family and friends on March 28. Her celebration was in the form of a mass held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Morwell, followed by a surprise party in the school hall. Ms Kukla has lived in the Latrobe Valley for more than 60 years. During her career, she worked at Faulkner’s Delicatessen Morwell, where she built friendships with people, mostly the migrants in the community due to her ability to speak a myriad of languages, including Italian, German, Russian and Polish. Holding onto her Polish heritage, Ms Kukla was president of the Polish Seniors Club in the Latrobe Valley for some 30 years. She was awarded a gold cross by former Polish president, Andrzej Duda in Melbourne in 2018. Ms Kukla went on quite the journey before arriving in Morwell. Originally from a small town called Ruzhany, (in the Belarus area) Ms Kukla moved to Germany to work in an ammunition factory during World War 2 when she was young. She lived in Germany for 10 years. It was there she met her husband Jan (John) and had her first two children. Following WW2, the family had the choice to move to either Australia or America. They chose the land down under and signed a two year contract to pay the fares back. On a boat, they arrived at Melbourne in 1950 and lived in migrant camps. The migrant camps were home to those from European countries including, Poland, Ukraine, Italy and Greece, who had been displaced from the war. The first camp the family stayed at was Bonegilla. From there they moved to Rushworth, then to a migrant camp in West Sale. The conditions of the camps were not ideal and privacy was close to nothing. Ms Kukla’s daughter, Marie D’Alia said, “The camps were really hard, there were a lot of families all in one sort of area, all that sometimes divided them was a blanket”. Generations: Ms Kukla with her grandchildren and great grandchild. Photograph supplied During this time, Ms Kukla’s husband worked on the rail tracks. After living in migrant camps for nearly 10 years, the family moved to Traralgon in 1959. Ms Kukla’s husband got a job at the Australian Paper Mill and soon after, a job working at the State Electricity Commission (SEC). They didn’t live in Traralgon “for long” before they packed up and moved into their brand new home on Holmes Road, Morwell in 1960. This became their family home. Ms Kukla still lives there to this day. The birthday girl described her party as “unbelievable”. “I didn’t expect so many people,” she said. Still young at heart, Ms Kukla joked, “I forgot that I was 100, I thought I am still young.” Ms Kukla was well-celebrated and received letters from local dignitaries including Federal Member for Gippsland, Darren Chester and prominent world leaders including Pope Leo XIV, King Charles and Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. A blessed woman, Ms Kukla has six children, 12 grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Through all her life struggles, Ms Kukla remained strong, her Catholic faith being her source of strength. “Being young, in strange land not knowing the language, and not having any family around me, it wasn’t an easy life for me,” she said. “I went through and I thank God that I’m still alive.” Ms Kukla’s advice to everyone is to “live your life and be in peace together”.

LV Express: Centenarian’s lifetime devotion to faith, family #Community #100yearold #AnthonyAlbanese

John joins the hundred club By PEACE IJIYERA   IT’S not every day you meet a 100-year-old. Traralgon local John Allcorn celebrated his 100th birthday last Friday (February 13). An amazing achievement for the centenarian, Mr Allcorn has lived in Traralgon since 1973. During his life, he has diligently served the CFA, cemetery trust, Walhalla Railway, Traralgon Men’s Probus Club and the Uniting Church. Born in Bendigo on February 13, 1926, Mr Allcorn and his family moved to the Warragul area when he was young. “When I was four, my parents bought a farm at Brandy Creek which was north of Warragul, on the Old Sale road,” he said. Though enjoying the farm life, it was cut short as Mr Allcorn contracted Brucellosis – an animal related disease usually found in cows, sheep, goats and pigs. Wedding bells: Mr and Mrs Allcorn’s wedding in 1950. Photographs: Peace Ijiyera Leaving the farm, Mr Allcorn “Had to find another way of making a living”, which he did through shopkeeping at a hardware store called Castles in Warragul. Moving to Traralgon for another job opportunity in 1973 at age 46, Mr Allcorn has lived in the same house on Shakespeare Street ever since. “I’m not a wanderer by nature,” he joked. In his personal life, Mr Allcorn is a family man who loved his girls; his wife Nancy (dec) and daughters, Marilyn (dec) and Glenda. Mr and Ms Allcorn met when they were quite young and were what you would consider childhood sweethearts. They both attended Buln Buln Primary School and met at Sunday school. The pair got married in 1950 and enjoyed a fruitful 70 years together before Ms Allcorn passed in 2020 aged 95. Mr Allcorn has five grandchildren and eight great grandchildren, who he adores. Though exciting, turning 100 carries a bittersweet taste for Mr Allcorn, as a lot of the people he holds dear are not around anymore. “It’s sad in another way because a lot of the people whom I’ve grown up through the years have gone,” he said. “Most people don’t seem to get past the 85 to 95 area.” Mr Allcorn didn’t think he’d live to 100. “It’s not normal,” he acknowledged. Though, he should have been expecting it as he comes from a lineage of people who have lived long lives. His mother lived until 99, and he had aunties who got into their hundreds. His son in law, Peter McPherson said, “There’s some good genes there somewhere”. Mr Allcorn’s service to the community saw him join the Warragul CFA in 1954 and later the Traralgon brigade, where he saw the good, the bad and the ugly. Mr Allcorn reflected on witnessing heart-breaking and confronting scenes. “It does something to you,” he said. He was also on the board of the committee who worked towards establishing the crematorium in Traralgon. “Before that, the only crematorium was in Springvale, it was a pretty nasty trip for people having to take bodies out there,” he said. The crematorium was established in 1985 and celebrated 40 years last year. In his retirement, Mr Allcorn spent time volunteering at Walhalla working on the railways. Comparing today’s world to what it was previously, Mr Allcorn said “It was a very different world”. Touching on the technological advances and changes to interpersonal relationships, Mr Allcorn misses a world where human connection was necessary. “I built up friendships that lasted for years because I was dealing with individual people and [in his time working] individual firms,” he said. Royal: Traralgon resident John Allcorn received his letter from King Charles and Queen Consort, Camilla. Who better to receive life advice from than someone who has lived 100 years? Mr Allcorn’s advice is to “Live life to the best you can”, but also, take life “one day at a time”. “I’ve had to learn to live one day at a time, which isn’t very easy,” he admits. Still agile as ever, his daughter, Glenda McPherson, describes her father as “fiercely independent”. At 100-years-old, Mr Allcorn still insists on living by himself. “I’m afraid I’m a bit stubborn. I like being independent, I’m going to stay as independent as I can be for as long as I can be,” he said. Missing human interaction sometimes, Mr Allcorn likes to meet with a group of friends. “I was finding it a bit lonely living alone, and I was put in touch with a group of people who are also living alone and we meet every Friday … have a chat, have a meal and play a game of some sort,” he said. He also likes to attend Bible study with his resident friends at Dalkeith Heights, and he says the church and Christianity remains “the central pillar” of his life. In his spare time, Mr Allcorn enjoys reading and studying to expand his knowledge, which goes to show that you’re never too old to learn. At the moment, he is finding the study of “the part that religion plays in different races” fascinating. Mr Allcorn received royal recognition from King Charles and Governor General Samantha Mostyn AC. Both letters congratulated the centenarian. Mr Allcorn partied hard at his birthday celebration at the Uniting Church on Friday. Surrounded by family and friends, it was a time to celebrate such a rare and significant milestone.

LV Express: John joins the hundred club #News #100yearold #CFA

Family and farming at the heart for Maria By KATRINA BRANDON   A SUNNY day arrived just in time for a special celebration for one local resident. Latrobe Valley local, Maria Dortmans celebrated her 100th birthday last week. While her birthday fell on Tuesday, August 12, family gathered to celebrate the centenarian last Saturday (August 16). Maria’s journey didn’t start in Latrobe. “Mum and dad came out from Holland in 1953 as migrants with nine children,” Maria’s daughter, Sjany Dow, told the Express. “My father lost his first wife and three of his children in the war, so he came out with four of his own children before he met my mother and got married.” Once she had settled in Australia, Maria started her Australian life in Narre Warren, where she lived on a share farm, and later moved to a property in Jeeralang North, where some of her family still reside. Maria went on to have 12 children throughout her life, and currently, she has more than 200 relatives, including her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. For many years, Maria and her husband ran dairy cattle on their Jeeralang property, and later transitioned to beef cattle with their children. As years went on, Maria moved to Traralgon around 1980, after her husband passed away. Centenarian: Maria Dortmans celebrated her 100th birthday on August 12 at O’Mara House, Traralgon. Photographs: Katrina Brandon On the farm, Ms Dow said her family became quite self-sufficient as Maria loved to spend time in the garden and they had their own meat supply. “My mum had this vegetable garden and the flower gardens and the fruit garden, and we had our meat (from the farm). Everything was just so totally self-sufficient,” she said. “Mum and dad used to say that if they didn’t have the farm, they wouldn’t have been able to cope with raising 16 children. “One of my memories is Sunday night tea out on the farm. Sometimes 20 or more people would sit around the table with children and grandchildren, and mum would just dish up enough food to serve everybody.” Beyond the farm, according to her daughter-in-law, Gwenda Dortmans, Maria also liked to spend her time volunteering, such as spending time with the Ryder-Cheshire Victorian Homes Foundation Inc. and St Vincent’s. While Ms Dow said that Maria was strict, she also noted that she was fair and welcoming to all. Ms Dow said that growing up, Maria treated her step-children as her own. For many years, Ms Dow and her other siblings weren’t aware of the situation. “I didn’t even know for many years that my older siblings were part of a separate family,” she said. “We’re all just one, and she (Maria) treated them as one, even though they weren’t hers. She was strict, but fair. She carried out the strictness, but we always knew we were loved and cared for. “In the winter mornings (before school), when there was snow outside, our shoes would be in the combustion oven to warm up so we didn’t have cold feet. And then, you come home and you have a meal cooked. She’d been picking beans and digging up potatoes, and then cooking cakes and biscuits.” During tough times, Maria said that her faith is one of the things that kept her going. Maria’s words of advice are to work hard and to take it as it comes, one day at a time.

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100-Year-Old Italian Barista Says Her Job Keeps Her Young and She Plans To Work Until 105 100-Year-Old Italian Barista Says Her Job Keeps Her Young and She Plans To Work Until 105   Ver esta publicación en Instagram   Una publicación compartida por Vincenzo Minotti (@vicminotti) According to ISTAT, Italy's national statistics bureau, there are more than 22,000 Italians between the ages of 100 and 104. While many of them have long retired, there is one who refuses to stop working. Anna Possi is a 100-year-old barista—the […] READ: 100-Year-Old Italian Barista Says Her Job Keeps Her Young and She Plans To Work Until 105

100-Year-Old Italian Barista Says Her Job Keeps Her Young and She Plans To Work Until 105 #Inspiring #100yearold