Geelong woman Bethel Olive Cuttler celebrates 100th birthday

A Geelong woman who battled polio and later opened the city’s first souvenir shop has turned 100.

Bethel Olive Cuttler celebrating her 100th birthday. Picture: Alison Wynd

A Geelong woman who opened the city’s first souvenir shop is our newest centenarian.

Bethel Olive Cuttler celebrated her 100th birthday on Tuesday with family at her home where she still lives independently.

Mrs Cuttler, who has five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, said she didn’t get the best start in life after being diagnosed with polio at age 14.

She also missed a year of school after being confined to splints and said it was a “wonderful relief” to be free of them at 17 years of age.

Bethel Olive Cuttler at the age of 19.

In 1940, Mrs Cuttler’s childhood sweetheart, Alan Cuttler, was sent to Papua New Guinea to man a searchlight battery during World War II.

After he returned home to Geelong, the couple married and had two daughters.

Mrs Cuttler said their marriage was traditional for the time as her husband worked, while she looked after the home and their children.

The family also moved house several times, buying and renovating homes to sell for a profit.

That was how they “improved their lives”, Mrs Cuttler said.

In the early 1970s, the couple opened Geelong’s first souvenir shop in the city’s centre.

“At that time there was no shop selling Geelong-marked souvenirs,” Mrs Cuttler said.

She said there was strong demand from visiting sailors and the relatives of migrants.

The couple owned the store for a decade and reproduced the Geelong coat of arms on ashtrays, vases, plates and postcards.

Mrs Cuttler’s secret to reaching a century was to live a “simple life”.

“I never smoked, drank alcohol or gambled,” she said.

“It’s just living the best life you can.”

Originally published as Geelong woman Bethel Olive Cuttler celebrates 100th birthday