Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was my great privilege to attend the 100th birthday celebrations for Mrs Eve Garner on Friday in Bethania. Mrs Garner, the youngest of seven children, was born in Aldershot in the UK to a military family, and during World War II she served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, driving trucks and ambulances and a variety of other support vehicles. After the war ended, she met William 'Bill' Garner, a former RAF pilot, and they married in April 1949. They had two children, Jill and Peter, and Mrs Garner worked in the children's home as an assistant house mother. She enjoyed flower arranging and belonged to a large number of women's groups. She also loved to travel and, during her life, visited Canada and New Zealand, ultimately coming to live in Australia. Sadly, her husband, Bill, passed away at the age of 60 in 1981. In 1996, at the age of 75, Mrs Garner made the brave decision to emigrate to Australia to be with her children and grandchildren, who had emigrated here in the 1990s. For her 85th birthday, Mrs Garner took a flight in a Tiger Moth, the same aircraft her husband, Bill, trained in. Mrs Garner now has five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Nothing is more important to her than family, and they all adore her, which we saw at those wonderful birthday celebrations last Friday. Happy birthday, Eve. Thank you for your service to our community. I hope you have many more happy years.