IT was a day full of celebrations for Elimbah’s latest centenarian, Geoff Powell, with friends past and present attending his birthday lunch last Tuesday at the Elimbah Soldiers Memorial Hall.
Unfortunately, none of Geoff’s family were able to attend the day as his nieces and nephews were stuck in New South Wales due to border restrictions.
Despite that, Geoff said it was great to catch up with friendly faces, some of who he hadn’t seen in years.
He was also quite chuffed with himself for conquering one of his greatest challenges.
“My brother lived to 99 and a half,” Geoff said. “I always wanted to beat that and I knew it was going to be a bit of a challenge – but now I’ve finally conquered it.”
Geoff isn’t quite sure what to attribute this impressive feat to, but the sprightly 100-year-old said his genetics may have had something to do with it.
“Along with my brother living to 99, my aunty lived to 103, my mother lived to 92 and she had a couple sisters even older than her,” he said.
“I’ve also maintained what I think to be a healthy diet with mostly good meals, and I’ve attended the doctor regularly over the past 30 years, so he probably deserves some credit in keeping me alive.
“To keep breathing is a fairly important part of it too. You certainly don’t want to stop doing that,” he laughed.
Geoff has been under the care of Elimbah locals Lyn and Albert Dilling for the past ten years after his wife passed away.
Lyn said Geoff remained active in his older years, so much so that he even built a house in his late 70s, putting the roof on at the ripe old age of 80.
“He spends a lot of time potting around out in the shed,” Lyn said. “Anything mechanical is a challenge he loves to get his hands on.
“My son’s an auto electrician so they talk for hours at night.”
Even though Geoff has hit triple figures, he won’t be slowing down any time soon.
“Another fella and I are making a plan to sink a bore at the moment,” he said. “We’d like to get that finished and hopefully use the water from it.
“We’re going to try to grow something. Even if it’s only a few weeds, we’ll grow something,” Geoff said.
Main image: Geoff Powell blows out the candles on his 100th birthday cake
