World War II veteran Joe Yates has sold “hundreds of thousands of dollars worth” of ANZAC badges and Remembrance Day poppies.
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The 91-year-old volunteered every Anzac and Remembrance Day until this April, when he moved into a Wendouree nursing home.
He was recognised for almost half a century of service to Ballarat RSL sub-branch on Friday.
Mr Yates served in South East Asia from 1943.
“I’ve lived in Wendouree for 60 years. I think I know half of Wendouree and they know me,” Mr Yates, who fundraised most recently at Wendouree Village, said.
“I don’t mind helping anyone. I was too fit to just wander around with nothing to do.”
Ballarat RSL secretary Maurie Keating said Mr Yates had “never missed a beat” in more than 40 years as a member.
“Volunteers come and go, sometimes at a rapid rate and sometimes they stay for a few years but Joe has been around for 40-odd and never missed a beat, never missed a year, always there for us,” Mr Keating said.
Jessica Black
Ballarat journalist.
Ballarat journalist.
