At 100 years old, Arthur Frost reflects on a life well lived

WELL-KNOWN Euroa man Arthur Frost turned 100 years old earlier this month, but he said the momentous occasion felt like just another day. “It doesn't seem like a sudden step forward or anything – it's just another day to me,” he said. Mr Frost spoke to the Gazette last week in his Euroa home, where he lives alone. “I think people have changed a lot over my period,” he responded when asked if he had any advice for today’s young people. “They're not as thoughtful or understanding, I don't think – they've got more personal interests. “There's no respect like there used to be in the old days; a lot of what you call good points of people, they're gone now.” The other change that concerns him is automation in the workforce. “What are people going to do in the future?” he asked. “Jobs are disappearing all the time; they've been taken over by something mechanical, so that's always been a worry to me.” He was born in Chiltern in 1924 and lived in Seymour, Essendon (one year at Essendon Grammar School) and Avenel before moving to Euroa in 1943, where he first lived on Binney Street. He was a beekeeper, sold tractors and became a farmer after marrying Ruth Watkins in 1951. Much of his autobiography, titled “The Good Ol’ Days”, is dedicated to his early years as a beekeeper. “It was in the formation stage of your life, where you learn a lot of things and they stayed fresh in your mind,” he said. He said the things he learned in those days included “punctuality, honesty, thoughtfulness to others, and respect, particularly respect – that's the main thing, to me, that's disappearing”. He learnt more life lessons in his time selling tractors, particularly when he came into contact with what he calls “hill people”, from areas like Ruffy and Strathbogie, who were different to the townsfolk of Euroa. “They taught me a different way of life, in effect; they were different from the flat people, or the town people,” he said. “They of course were closely allied to one another; they intermarried and you had to be careful who you spoke to up there that you didn't jump on someone's toes. “You never forgot them: they would invite you in for lunch, that type of thing; they were a friendly, outgoing sort of people.” But Mr Frost said the highlight of his life had been his marriage. “Probably the highlight of my life was the girl I was married to,” he said. “She taught me more than probably anything else I'd learned anywhere else or other people I've met; she was more influential than anybody, by far. “And I was fortunate that I married into a very good family, the Watkins’.” The Watkins’ were a well-known sporting family and he met Ruth Watkins through tennis and golf. Ruth passed away in 2008. Mr Frost had been a sporting man himself; he is considered a legend at the Euroa Golf Club and Euroa Tennis Club, at both of which he is a life member, and he was also a strong footballer, winning best and fairest at the Euroa Football Club in 1951, and the best and fairest award of the Waranga North East league. He was also councillor for Euroa for nine years (from 1966 – 1975), and a longtime member of the Apex Foundation and Euroa Water Board. He said he was “never really a good councillor, to be quite candid” but recalled a major issue at the time had been that council wanted to support industry and increase jobs, but they had been up against the opposition of farmers. These days, Mr Frost is a man of routine. Every day he writes in his diary (which he has done since marrying), reads the Herald Sun (which he has done since leaving school) and spends time reading novels and history books. His son, Ian Frost, said routine keeps his father occupied. “You're not sitting there going, ‘what am I going to do now?’” he said. “He's self-occupied all the time. “You know, after breakfast in the morning, he'll do the dishes, then he'll probably read the paper, then later on he'll do all the crosswords, and then might read, and so on.” Ian described his father as very learned, respectful, sporting, hardworking, honest, and knowledgeable. Balmattum’s Kevin McFarlane described Mr Frost as a “gentleman’s gentleman”. “One of a kind – we won’t see people like him again,” he said. “He presented every day with a tie, regardless of what he was doing. “Extremely respectful, and thought about everybody and everything they did, and their families. “He's very special, but always quietly spoken, and never one to pump his own tyres up.”

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