Mavis Zimmerlie has just celebrated her 100th birthday and reflects on her life working on cane farms in Bundaberg.
Growing up in Sharon, Mavis said she was always keen to help on the family farm, even when her siblings chose to do other things.
“We lived just out of town a bit, that’s where I grew up,” she said.
“My parents were on a farm and my brother was serving in the army, fighting in Japan.
“My two sisters were out working but I didn’t, I stayed home to help Dad on the farm as best I could.”
With farm life in her blood, Mavis said it was only a natural progression to manage her own property when she moved out of home to marry.
“My husband’s name was Milton,” she said.
“I met him at the dance hall… we married and had two children, a boy and a girl…
“For the first few years we went here, there and everywhere- wherever the work was.
“We lived like that for a while until we decided to get our own farm.”
The couple ran their first cane farm in Fairymead before problems with flooding struck.
“It was on the river, it got flooded a bit,” Mavis said.
“My husband wasn’t very happy with it, he wanted to get (somewhere) better than that.
“We found a better piece of ground and turned it into a farm, it was on Holland’s Road going out to Bucca.”
Mavis and Milton retired from farm life in their 70s.
“It was a good life, we liked it on the farm,” Mavis said.
“Bundaberg is a good place to live.
“I’ve enjoyed working, I have enjoyed having a life like that.”
When asked what her life highlights were, Mavis reiterated that working alongside her husband had been a wonderful experience.
“We did everything together- I tell people that – we worked together, endured and enjoyed together,” she said.
Mavis celebrated her 100th birthday at Meilene Residential Aged Care last week.
