Otaki TodayFormer Ōtaki resident Bert ten Broeke celebrated his 100th birthday at the Ōtaki RSA on October 12.
His celebration was organised by the Amicus Club, of which Bert remains a member.
Bert was born in on October 9, 1924, in a Dutch town bordering Germany. He remembers at 15 experiencing the invasion by German troops in May 1940.
He was sent to a work camp in the Netherlands, and later deported to Germany to work in forced labour.
He escaped in January 1945. However, times were tough in the Netherlands after liberation, so he emigrated to New Zealand. He arrived in 1950 with £7 in his pocket and no knowledge of the language.
Three Dutchmen walk into a bar – at the Ōtaki RSA to help Bert ten Broeke (seated left) to celebrate his 100th birthday were local GP Hans Itjeshorst (standing) and friend Ferd Kneepens.
Photo Ōtaki Today
Bert says he has never been idle. He bought three butcheries in Wellington, built a factory in Porirua where he operated Brook’s Smallgoods, and had three dairy farms.
He and wife Patricia moved to Ōtaki later in life and retired to Paraparaumu.
At the age of 86, he wrote his life story, Can’t is not in my vocabulary, epitomising his attitude to life in general. The cover image was of Bert waving as he boarded the plane to New Zealand.
Bert says he has lived by the philosophy that if you do something, do it 100 percent, “otherwise don’t bloody do it”.
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