Gerry Wake admitted to being slightly overwhelmed at the start of his 100th birthday celebrations.
Gerry Wake flanked by his two Cambridge-based daughters, Suzanne Ludbrook, left and Cheryl Kleuskens. Photo: Viv Posselt
His October 25 centennial started with a small gathering in the billiard room at Te Awa Lifecare, Gerry’s home for the past six years. A quick photo was planned alongside his regular billiard buddies, Richard Seabrook and the former Te Awa general manager Jed Rowlands.
The arrival of Matamata playing chums Cliff Hazelton and Kevin Crighton was a happy addition to the trio, then in popped New Zealand’s national billiards champion, Wayne Carey, bearing the handsome trophy he won earlier this year, a wooden and silver masterpiece first played for in 1908.
“I’m feeling a little overwhelmed, to be honest,” Gerry Wake smiled.
Gerry was born in the Essex village of Ingrave. He joined the navy in 1943, aged 19 and was attached to a naval landing party stationed at Courseulles in Normandy during the D-Day landings.
“My job was to go every day to fetch supplies from the LBV [landing barge vehicle] and take them back to Courseulles,” he said. “We were there until the campaign finally ground its way forward.”
In a life characterised largely by measured decision-making, his biggest regret centres on something he couldn’t control – the death of his father in an accident when Gerry was just two.
His father had risen through the ranks, first in India and then with the British police force, before his early death left the family struggling. Gerry later brought his mother out to live with the family in New Zealand.
“I have no regrets about anything in my life, except I wish I had known my father.”
Gerry Wake earlier this year. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
At war’s end Gerry came home and applied to join the police force, but was declined because of flat feet, so took other employment. It was on his way to work that he first laid eyes on Joan Pipe and her friend. He spotted her again at a travelling fair, and as luck would have it, one of his cricket-playing friends knew her.
“It was on from the start,” Gerry’s eyes sparkled. “I knew a good thing when I saw it… nothing was going to stop me.”
They married and had two daughters before migrating to New Zealand in 1962, essentially to give the children a better life than post-war England might offer. They soon added a son to the family and settled in Cambridge where Gerry made his mark in the insurance field and Joan made hers on the repertory circuit, performing in the productions like Mikado and singing with the Hamilton Civic Choir. Joan died in 1984.
Sport was a big part of Gerry’s life. He played table tennis, he captained the local cricket side for a few seasons – at times netting them the cup – and his talent at billiards saw him win trophies in several championships across New Zealand.
It turns out his dad was a billiards champion, so it’s likely there’s a genetic reason Gerry remains passionate about the game today.
Slightly bemused at having made his 100, his mantra has been to ‘enjoy everything, but in moderation’. That’s a key message Gerry passed on to his children.
“I like to think of myself as lucky, not fortunate, but lucky,” he said. “As I see it, the success and happiness I have had in my life can be put down to my wife Joan. She was a beauty!”
Gerry Wake lines up for the break on his 100th birthday, watched by his playing buddies Jed Rowlands, left, and Richard Seabrook. Photo: Viv Posselt
