Publish date: 7 October 2024
“If something was needed, you just did it.”
It is a philosophy Peg Eaton, who celebrated her 100th birthday in February, has lived by. One that the mother of five, who grew up in Collie, says she learned from the example set by her own parents.
“My mother was a wonderful person, very caring, always looking after people. I had three brothers and two sisters, but she was always caring for others,” she recalls. “My father was a timber man and he would walk for miles to look at a person’s broken car. It’s important to care for another person if you see the need. And my parents were like that.”
What’s the best advice they gave her? “Live well - be purposeful.” It’s advice she clearly took to heart.
Peg joined the Land Army during World War II, before moving into the Women’s Army. “I was protecting Fremantle in the war years; I started up on the hill, keeping watch,” she recalls. “I thought it was worthwhile; it was needed.”
This desire to help others made Peg a natural advocate. Whether running welfare centres, opening op shops or delivering furniture to those in need, Peg’s son John says she was always helping others .
One of those areas where Peg saw a need was aged care. She was involved with Bethanie, then known as the Churches of Christ Home Incorporated, long before she made her home at Bethanie Geneff. She remembers when the Innaloo site was an orchard.
As a Foundation member of Bethanie, which established its first home in Joondanna 70 years ago, Peg was determined to ensure that older people were cared for with respect and dignity.
“I was always having something to say,” she says with a twinkle in her eye. “And to me it was very important.”
Peg bats away suggestions she has lived a remarkable life, but she does pinch herself that she has turned 100. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?
The centenarian is still fiercely independent. After a fall put her into respite for a while, Peg fought her way back on her feet so she could return to her own unit. “I like company but I like my own space, too,” she says. “I’m very happy here.”
With the support of Bethanie Geneff staff, Peg will continue to live life as independently as possible. She clearly has a soft spot for Village Manager Lachlan Douglas and speaks fondly of his mother, who also worked at Geneff. “She raised such a beautiful boy; he’s very caring of the whole place.”
You don’t make it to 100 without losing lots of loved ones. Peg sits opposite a picture of her late husband Ken, who she met in the Army. “I was at headquarters and he used to come in and talk to me,” she says. “He was such a lovely man; I look at him over there and think ‘why did you leave’."
Peg is not one to wallow in the past, however. “You've just got to accept it because you can’t change it,” she says. “You have to keep loving life as it is.”
It helps that she has such a loving and supportive family. “My sons are beautiful and my daughters-in-law are lovely to me - they are all just so kind and thoughtful,” she says. She points to pictures of family members scattered around her villa.
The extended family gathered for her 100th birthday celebrations earlier this year, a social occasion that Peg clearly relished. When asked what keeps her going, Peg says simply: “I love life.”
She keeps herself busy at Bethanie Geneff, socialising with her neighbours – several of whom she knew from church – and joining in activities, such as the regular ‘knit and chat’ sessions that contribute to Bethanie’s Operation Christmas Child shoebox appeal. “I make beanies and they send them to a country in need,” Peg says.
Still helping others, then? “I can’t help myself,” she says with another of her warm smiles.
