Chloe Duncan believes growing her own vegetables has been one of the greatest gifts of her life. The 107-year-old continued living independently until moving to Newnham Community, Aldersgate Village in Launceston late last year. With the energy levels and mobility of someone well below her years, Chloe was able to continue gardening until the age of 101.
Leisure and Lifestyle Assistant Adam Page sat down with Chloe to listen to her story.
My father, Frederick William Dadson, used to grow produce in South Launceston, behind the old hospital, and trained horses. My mother was Naomi Faulkner before she married my father and she was a wonderful mother.
I was a talented ballerina when I was young. I remember getting my first pair of satin dance shoes and I was so excited that I spent the next few years on my tip toes. I once danced on my tippy toes all the way down Balfour Street and people came outside to watch me.
I went to Charles Street Primary School so I would walk home past the Sportsman’s Hotel and the men in the pub would come out and applaud me as I danced home.
I never worked after leaving school at 12 because my father said that if my older brothers couldn’t support me then we weren’t much of a family. That’s how it was back then.
I married a man named Alfred Duncan in 1928. I fell pregnant soon after and was due to give birth when the 1929 Launceston floods hit. The day the floods hit, I went into labour and my husband had to carry me out of our bedroom window, put me into a little boat and rowed me to the Canning Street Hospital.
I gave birth to our first child, Kevin, that day. I had 11 children all up – seven boys and four girls. Seven of my children are still alive. My eldest living child, Joy, is now 87 years old.
My husband died of pneumonia in 1977, after 49 years of marriage. He was a good man, my Alfred. I loved him dearly and his death hit me and the kids hard.
My kids have all chipped in to help me over the years. My son, Tony, has been wonderful and helped care for me and keep me living independently right up until this the end of 2018.
Family is all I remember fondly now, nothing else stays with you – just family memories and those feelings of love.
Chloe Duncan will turn 108 on Monday, 27 May 2019.