102-year-old says the secret to a long life is walking

Jack Coe

Jack Coe is an inspiring man with a warm personality who still wonders why he's lived so long.

Coe was 102 years old on May 11 this year.

But there was no fuss, he said.

"They did all that party and cake stuff when I was 100. I got my card from the Queen, who looks very good for her age. Now that sort of thing doesn't matter any more. I don't need parties. One was enough."

Coe retired from his working life as a painter and paperhanger when he was 64.

"I thought that was a fair innings. I didn't think I'd have too many years left. But here I am. Still here."

Coe lives alone in the Marton house he has owned for 70 years.

"A woman comes in for an hour a week and does the housework, a chap comes on a motorbike twice a week and drops in dinners, lovely they are too," he said.

Even though he is legally blind, Coe said he cooks himself a roast dinner once a week.

"A nice piece of mutton, roast potatoes and pumpkin. I can do it because I know every part of the stove."

His longevity, he reckons, has got much to do with keeping active. He walks every day no matter what the weather is doing, he said.

"Bit of rain won't hurt you."

Every morning at 9.30am he sets off and walks into town, stops and has a coffee and a chat with whoever is around.

"Then I walk the long way home again."

Coe, though his sight is minimal and his hearing down a few decibels, always wears a hat from his collection and laces up his white sneakers for his daily exercise.

His hat collection ranges from Tam O' Shanters, knitted beanies, caps and a couple of Aussie bushmen sunhats.

They sit in a neat row along the back of sofa in the living room.

"My son gave me most of them. People run out of ideas what to give you when you get this old."

Coe was born in Bulls, grew up in Bulls, then moved to Marton for his working life.

"We lived in a tent when I was a baby but it didn't do me any harm."

As a younger man he loved to fish and go pig hunting and take his family (wife and two children) off for holidays in a caravan.

"We had a lot of fun. Best kind of holidays you could give the kids and yourself."

An afternoon nap is not an option for this seasoned veteran, though.

"I never have a sleep during the day. I don't like television. I like listening to the radio, especially the news."

In World War II, Coe served with the NZ army in the South Pacific.

"I was in New Caledonia and Bougainville helping the Americans fight the Japanese."

The South Pacific campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied grand strategy in the South Pacific.

Coe's 77-year daughter would be coming to stay over the weekend, he said.

"But she's worse than me now. She's cracked her hip and can't walk much anymore."

Coe emphasised that walking is everything.

"I know the good it has done me over the years. I've always walked every day."