By Mikayla van Loon
Celebrating a century of life for Myra Pill was an overwhelming experience for the Kilsyth Kirkbrae Aged Care resident.
Born 27 March 1924 to Alice and Sydney Kipps in Ripponlea, Mrya grew up in a household of three sisters and two brothers.
She worked in her early life making artificial flower arrangements and corsages until she met her soon to be husband at a party one night.
“Myra met John at a party in 1942, where they played spin the bottle, every lady had to put their keys in a bowl and John drew Myra’s keys out and received his reward of a kiss for doing so,” Myra’s son John said.
“John kept picking Myra’s keys because they enjoyed the kissing bit, Myra was a good kisser evidently.”
The pair married on 16 January 1943, with a brief honeymoon in Marysville, before John was “shipped off to New Guinea until the end of the Second World War”.
“When he came home, he spent six months in rehab because he got malaria very badly in New Guinea.”
John and Myra’s son-in-law Peter said watching their relationship of 77 years was a beautiful lesson.
“[Helen, Myra’s daughter] and I were married for 53 years,” Peter said.
“I’ve been with my partner for 48 years…I think it’s the way you were brought up and you work to make things work,” John said.
Everyone always thought it was rather amusing too that John was “twice her size, being six foot” and a memory of them walking down a cruise ship aisle on a trip around New Zealand was quite the laugh.
“Watching them walk down the passageway back to their cabin and there was a long one and a short one, it was quite cute,” Peter said.
Not known as people who stayed in one place for too long, Myra and John moved around 13 times.
“After the war John trained as a diesel mechanic, they purchased a bulldozer, they went all over Victoria clearing land including Heathmont Primary School where we, the children, eventually attended, he only came home once every fortnight,” John said.
“They purchased land all over Victoria, later sold up and they retired to take up his passion for farming. Over their married life they moved 13 times, we became quite tired of changing our phone books.”
Myra and John owned farms in Kinglake, Kyneton and Portarlington, where John was able to live out his dream before returning to the suburbs later in life.
John lived to 102-years-old and until 2019, Mrya lived independently at home.
While Myra’s mind is no longer as strong as it used to be, John and Peter said prior to the pandemic she was “as sharp as a tac”.
Myra’s son John, who now lives in Queensland, and Peter’s children and grandchildren travelled to celebrate the 100th birthday milestone on Wednesday 27 March.
