Mrs Pope (105) Reflects on Her Adventures of a Lifetime

Resthaven Murray Bridge, Hills & Fleurieu Community Services client, Mrs Doreen Pope, will celebrate her 105th birthday on 12 May surrounded by family and friends at her Oakbank home.

Being descended from two of the first pioneering families of South Australia—the Dawkins of Gawler and the Maidments of Strathalbyn—Mrs Pope certainly inherited their adventurous spirit.

She grew up in a family of five on a 1,700-acre dairy farm at Bowhill, on the River Murray.

"Every day, my siblings and I would ride our horses a seven-mile round trip to school and back. Sometimes we’d come home and help dad by rounding up the cattle."

"We’d also ride through the river to play tennis on the other side, or head to a dance in Purnong."

Their blissful childhood changed when the depression hit, which was unfortunately ill-timed with a drought.

"I remember a 12-day heatwave, where it reached 117 degrees Fahrenheit. All that country turned to sand, and every farm went bankrupt," she says.

Mrs Pope remembers: "We more or less walked off the farm in 1936, and the house stayed empty for 70 years. Our family moved to Mount Barker and bought a small 32-acre dairy farm."

"I married my husband, Mervon, in 1942, and he returned from the war in 1944. We settled down and went on to have four children."

"We went through some tough times, the same as everyone, but we were a very happy family."

Sadly, in 1978, Mervon died aged just 64. Her eldest son eventually took over the family farm, and Mrs Pope lived there until 1995 until she decided to sell it.

"Mount Barker was growing, and the land had become very valuable," she explains. "So, I built this house in Oakbank, and my daughter, Margaret, built a house just nearby too."

In Mrs Pope’s later years, travel became an important part of her life. She explains, "I quickly realised how much of the world there was to see, and that I had been missing out!" Over the next few decades, Mrs Pope travelled with friends and family to America, New Zealand, and almost everywhere in Australia.

Mrs Pope also found an unlikely travelling partner in her grandson, Nick, who shares her adventurous spirit. The pair travelled together to South Africa in 2008, when Mrs Pope was 90, and again in 2013, when she was 95.

In 2015, Mrs Pope was chosen in the ballot to travel to Gallipoli for the 100th anniversary of the beach landing. However, after considering her options (she was 97, after all!), Mrs Pope opted instead for the comfort of a 36-day Anzac Centenary cruise on the MSC Orchestra, joined by her daughter, Margaret and son-in-law, Nigel, and Nick, of course!

Margaret, says, "We went on a ship full of dignitaries and celebrities, including Daryl Braithwaite, Kate Ceberano, Ross Wilson, Bruce Woodley, John Williamson and Normie Rowe."

During the stopover in Egypt, where they visited the Valley of the Kings and the Pyramids, Mrs Pope remembers being carried in her wheelchair down the stairs deep underground to the Pharaoh’s tomb by Nick and his father and two "very nice" men, who she later realised were Daryl Braithwaite and Normie Rowe!

Longevity certainly runs in the family, with Mrs Pope’s mum living to 95 and her dad to 99. All three siblings, and several cousins, lived to beyond 100.

When asked if she has a secret to longevity, Mrs Pope laughs and says, "Stay curious—an adventurous spirit will keep you young!"

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