Australia’s oldest person Dexter Kruger celebrates 111th birthday

Australia’s oldest person Dexter Kruger has celebrated his 111th birthday. And revealed his unlikely secret to a long life.

Australia’s oldest person Dexter Kruger stayed up until midnight to mark his 111th birthday.

“I didn’t think that I could make it but I woke up this morning, about a quarter to 12, and I waited until the clock struck 12 and I said, ‘Hooray, I’ve made it,’” he said from his nursing home in Roma, Queensland, on Wednesday.

The supercentenarian wore a sequined red hat with “111” in black numbers and a blue “Birthday Boy” ribbon as he thanked those who helped mark “this very special occasion”.

Dexter Kruger at his birthday celebrations. Picture: Facebook

“I am completely overwhelmed,” he said.

“I tell you, it is lonely at the top, I would like to have some company.”

Mr Kruger also recited the hymn My Times Are In Thy Hand, Psalm 31:15 by William Freeman Lloyd.

Dexter Kruger was born in 1910. Picture: Facebook

Dexter and his wife Gladys on their wedding day in 1942.

Born on January 13, 1910, he has lived through momentous and remarkable changes across the globe including two world wars, the Great Depression, the Swinging Sixties, and the introduction of mobile phones and the internet.

He is a retired cattle farmer and has been an author since the age of 86 after his wife died.

Mr Kruger took the title of Australia’s oldest person after the death of Mabel Crosby last month.

Our oldest Queenslander, Mabel Crosby, passed away last week aged 111.

On behalf of all Queenslanders I offer my heartfelt condolences to her family. pic.twitter.com/rVCYNIep7X

— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) January 5, 2021

His go-to “ditty” when interviewed each year is: “Always eat when you are hungry, always drink when you are dry, always sleep when you are sleepy, don’t stop breathing or you’ll die.”

He told the ABC “there’s no secret” to living a long and happy life.

“Keep breathing, have three meals a day, and the time goes on,” he said.

“I sing and whistle, and I have half a dozen prawns every day.”