While most people may fear they’re getting old once they reach 40 or 50 years old, Gerard O’Loughlin was all smiles as he celebrated his 100th birthday.
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When queried on what is his secret to reach triple digits, Mr O’Loughlin just smiled and gave as simple an answer as he could.
“Moderation in everything I’d say,” he said.
“I’ve never tried to overdo the alcohol or anything like that, I’ve behaved myself in public and had a type of job as a teacher that required leadership qualities and I hopefully did my best in that role.”
His experiences in the classroom were memories he will not soon forget.
“I enjoyed all my time as a young and even a mature teacher, under a principal or underneath a principal.”
Born in Durham, south of Buninyong, on January 8, 1919, Mr O’Loughlin was the sixth of eight children to a farming family.
A talented athlete and cricket player, Mr O’Loughlin got set on his path to becoming a teacher. After spending time as a student teacher at Kallista State School in North East Melbourne in 1937 and Redan Primary School in 1938, he attended Melbourne Teachers College in 1939.
After a few more years of teaching, Mr O’Loughlin volunteered in early 1942 as a gunner in the 3rd and 2nd Field Artillery. Deployed in New Guinea and Boganville, he spent a total of 892 days overseas before he was discharged.
“I remember when the war ended there was certainly elation in the unit as we had been to action for a considerable amount of time.”
A passionate Geelong Cats supporter, Mr O’Loughlin got the honour of seeing one of the club’s greats play while he was on duty.
“We had a match between two regiments in Port Moresby and a few former Geelong players spotted Fred Flanagan and they said ‘we’ve got to grab him for Geelong.’
Fred Flanagan would go on to captain the club, playing 163 games and kicking 182 goals.
Mr O’Loughlin still says Flanagan is the best player the club has ever had, just sitting ahead of Gary Ablett Sr. He hopes he’ll be around to see the cats win one more flag.