Levin resident Wynne Bullen is about to celebrate her 105th birthday.
Levin resident Wynne Bullen is about to celebrate her 105th birthday.
One of Levin’s oldest residents - if not the oldest - celebrates her 105th birthday early next month.
Residents and staff at Reevedon Rest Home in Salisbury St will gather to help Wynne Bullen celebrate the occasion. The following day will be spent with family members and close friends for an afternoon tea at the Masonic Village Cafe.
Family are coming from throughout New Zealand and several from Australia.
Mrs Bullen has received birthday greeting cards from King Charles and Queen Camilla, as well as the Governor-General and Prime Minister, to go with a card she got from Queen Elizabeth when she turned 100.
At her 100th birthday, Wynne gave a brief address to the 120-plus guests, speaking without notes. Family members expect her to do the same this year.
Wynne Bullen is a keen participant in activities at Reevedon Rest Home.
Wynne Victoria Malkin was born in Brighton in England on December 8, 1918, just a few weeks after the end of World War I. Her father, Edwin, fought in France with the Royal Sussex Regiment and her mother Florence was a nurse.
She was one of four girls - with her sisters Flo, Betty, and Peggy - and the family migrated to New Zealand in 1925 on the Corinthic and settled in Hawke’s Bay, where two boys, John and Ted, were born.
Wynne attended Waipukurau Primary School and was recently a guest of honour at a school reunion.
One of the first families they met on arrival in New Zealand was the Bullens, Alice and John, who had three children including Christopher John. It must have been an omen because Wynne met up again with Chris and they were married in Waipukurau in 1941 and settled in Upper Hutt.
Their two children, Christopher and James, were born in Upper Hutt in 1943 and 1945.
Her husband was a fitter and turner at the Gear Meat Company in Petone and once the children were old enough, Wynne returned to the workforce as a kindergarten teacher.
But other interests were stirring and before long she joined the Labour Party, becoming branch secretary. It kept her busy because the local MP Phil Holloway was a Cabinet minister. She stood for the Upper Hutt Borough Council, and topped the polls.
She took up indoor bowls and it wasn’t long before the whole family was involved. She was runner-up for a national fours title. These days she coaches fellow residents at Reevedon Home.
Two years ago, at age 103, she set off on her walker to Levin Domain to watch the Hurricanes rugby team hold a training camp. She is an avid follower of sport and can rattle off the names of most All Blacks and Black Caps cricketers.
Chris Bullen died a few years ago at 92, and not long afterward the family home was sold and Wynne bought a unit at Reevedon Village. Then, at 97, she sold the unit and moved into the rest home.
After her husband’s death she started travelling with family members to places like Cape Reinga and Bay of Islands. She travelled by train from Christchurch to Greymouth, then flew to Queenstown to sail on the Earnslaw across Lake Wakatipu.
She also flew to Queensland well into her 80s to see her granddaughter graduate from Brisbane University.
These days she enjoys playing Trivial Pursuit and newspaper reading, including the daily quiz, as well as thinking up activities for the residents to take part in.
