Two born wanderers: Wilfred’s century of love and travel

With his foot firmly on the accelerator of the hired Ford he and his late wife Evelyn were travelling in, Mr Wilfred Sutcliffe steered through the unfamiliar roads of Scotland in 1988, acutely aware that their hotel check-in time was fast approaching, and they were still on the wrong side of Loch Lomond.

‘We only had a small amount of time to get there before the hotel was to close and we would be left without a bed,’ Wilfred says. ‘Luckily, we arrived just in time. The car promised all the mod cons, such as a radio and air conditioning, and one of the selling points was how quickly it could travel. It wasn’t something we worried about when we hired it, but we definitely used it on that day!’

It was the third major overseas trip Wilfred and Evelyn had taken, and just one of the many holidays and adventures they shared during their lives together. Wilfred, who will turn 100 on 3 March, says he and Evelyn were ‘two born wanderers’.

‘It broadened our education,’ Wilfred says. ‘We liked to travel in the daylight so we could take in all the sights.’

The couple travelled to many places, heading to Western Germany and the United Kingdom in 1972, and then again in 1977 and 1988.

‘My favourite place to visit was Switzerland,’ Wilfred says. ‘We visited there twice, and also twice to Austria.’

On their first visit to Switzerland, Evelyn delighted in the shopping.

‘We went into several shops, and the store assistant would offer her a seat and say, “Would madam like to see the tray of jewels?” to which she would reply, “Oh, yes!” I told her if she didn’t slow down, we wouldn’t be able to eat by the time we got to Scandinavia!’ Wilfred laughs.

The pair also travelled extensively across Australia, driving. They also journeyed by train on the Indian Pacific, the Overland and the Southern Aurora.

‘Evelyn always said she had two jobs – clerical work in the office and keeping house — and she decided she deserved a holiday every year,’ Wilfred says. ‘So that’s what we did.’

Early life

Born in St Peters, Wilfred grew up during the Great Depression and World War II. A gifted student with a love of mathematics, he left school at 15 to take up a temporary wartime position at a chartered accounting firm, where he stayed for four years.

‘It wasn’t really my game,’ Wilfred says. ‘Give me figures, but not the legal stuff!’

Other accounting jobs followed, and in 1950, Wilfred joined the finance department of the South Australian Railways, where he built a long and varied career.

‘I did all sorts of things with figures for them — payroll, movement dockets, costings, stores, bills,’ Wilfred says. ‘It was a bit of a “mixed grill”. Some bits were quite exciting and interesting, others were not. I enjoyed costing locomotive repairs and preparing the annual statements.’

Later, when computers were introduced, Wilfred helped with preparatory work as systems modernised.

The state service was split into two, with the freight portion taken over by the Commonwealth. Redundancies followed.

‘The first round was for those aged over 55 — they were all given a pension. I chose to go in the second round,’ Wilfred says. ‘I retired in 1985.’

Sport was another early passion. Wilfred played hockey for many years and was selected for the top division one season. But on May 12, 1956, a heavy on-field collision changed everything.

‘I suffered a concussion and couldn’t remember anything that had happened,’ Wilfred says. ‘I played out the year, but I had lost my nerve. I decided to give it up.’

Wilfred and Evelyn

Love came unexpectedly. Both in their 30s and living just four doors apart, Wilfred and Evelyn got to know each other when they started catching the bus together to go to work.

‘We were that rare thing where we both fell in love with each other at the same time,’ Wilfred says. ‘The marriage was frowned upon by both sides, but we went on with it regardless.’

The couple was married on 19 April 1958. Once married, they built a home at Glynde before downsizing to a unit in their later years. They chose not to have any children, focussing instead on each other, their careers, and their love of travel. They had many happy years before health challenges started to impact their lives.

‘I had a minor stroke in 1983, and I didn’t realise how much it had affected me until we were travelling in 1988,’ Wilfred says.

A second stroke followed some years later, and plans for another overseas trip in 1997 were shelved after Wilfred suffered another health scare.

‘Just a few days after we had finalised all our bookings, I took a bit of a turn,’ Wilfred says. ‘We talked about it a lot, and decided it wasn’t worth the risk – if something were to happen to me, then Evelyn would be stuck. We reluctantly decided we couldn’t go.’

Local travel took over, and in later years, Wilfred volunteered with the National Trust, managing the books for its Walkerville shop, and served as a lay reader in his Anglican church for about 50 years. He also acted as Presiding Officer at the units where he and Evelyn lived. Evelyn took up tapestry, and two of her pieces adorn the walls of Wilfred’s room at Resthaven Leabrook.

‘It was a heart attack when I was 92 that led to bypass surgery and the move to Resthaven Leabrook,’ Wilfred says.

Evelyn remained in the unit for some time before joining Wilfred in the residential aged care home for her final two years.

‘She had very bad rheumatoid arthritis,’ Wilfred says. ‘We celebrated Christmas together in 2021, and then my birthday the following year, but on that day, she collapsed and was taken to hospital,’ Wilfred says. ‘She died of bone marrow failure two weeks later.

‘The last thing she said to me was, ‘I do love you.’ I replied that I loved her too. We both put our heads back on the pillows — and that was it.

‘We were a part of each other,’ Wilfred says. ‘We met simply because she walked past my house to catch the bus to work.’

Though he hasn’t celebrated his birthday since Evelyn’s passing, Wilfred will mark his 100th with an afternoon tea at 3pm on 3 March, surrounded by well-wishers.

‘They call me the survivor,’ Wilfred says. ‘I’m tough like my dad.’

Thank you for sharing your story, Wilfred. We wish you all the best for your 100th birthday.