Rex celebrates 100 years in city
MILESTONE BIRTHDAY: Rex Turnbull celebrated an emotional 100th birthday with friends and family yesterday, but it was one well-wisher who stole centre stage at the Yukana Retirement Village.
The Queen sent a card congratulating him on the milestone, as Mr Turnbull admits plans for his 200th celebration are already in motion.
The quick-witted Toowoomba resident has witnessed a wave of change during his century in the city and had one tip for those wanting to live a long and healthy life.
AT THE age of 100 Rex Turnbull has accumulated a lot of wisdom over the years.
Mr Turnbull, who celebrated his 100th birthday yesterday, said there isn’t a magic potion that would lead to a long and happy life.
Instead, the key to longevity was pretty black and white in his eyes.
“Work hard and be honest,” he quipped. “And don’t drink.”
His motto comes as no surprise to his son Victor.
“Dad is very black and white and he has always been very up front,” he said.
“If we went out at night he would be straight on the push-bike trying to find us.”
Rex’s story began in Toowoomba in 1918, growing into a young man who would sign up to fight in the Second World War numerous times only to be rebuffed - seeking every avenue possible to join his
mates in the armed forces.
“He tried to enlist a number of times but they kept finding out he worked at the railway which was an essential service at the time,” Victor Turnbull said.
“That was hard for him in a way with all his mates going off.”
Still the life of the party at the ripe age of 100, Rex Turnbull recalled how first impressions always lasted with him.
“It’s all in the handshake. I can tell someone’s character just from a handshake,” he said.
Mr Turnbull’s handshake is still firm, showing no signs of the kilometres on the clock, but rather the sturdy hands that built his family’s first home - a home they would reside in for 69 years.
Celebrating his milestone at the Yukana Retirement Village among a plethora of
❝ Work hard and be honest. And don’t drink.
— Rex Turnbull
friends and family, the born-and-bred Toowoomba local revelled in the well-wishes from some well-known dignitaries.
Top of the that list was Her Majesty the Queen.
“Congratulations on the celebration of your 100th birthday,” the card reads.
While the Governor General and Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull sent letters, it is the card signed from Elizabeth R that brings a tear to Rex’s eye.
Still as sharp as a blade, Mr Turnbull plans on sending a letter of reply to the Queen.
“When I get time,” he said.