June Whiting has marked a double milestone this week celebrating her 100th birthday and becoming the 100th member inducted into the Carinity 100 Club in Queensland.

The club is a special honour for centenarians living in Carinity aged care communities. June, who moved into Carinity Clifford House in Brisbane 13 years ago, is one of the aged care’s longest-serving residents.

The former physiotherapist, who was born in Norfolk, England, celebrated her birthday in the aged care home, surrounded by friends and family, including her son Jonathan on March 3.

June’s father had move to the countryside during the First World War, raising his children on a small farm. She later moved to London to study physiotherapy during World War II.

“She can remember the buzz bombs dropped by Hitler during the London blitz and hearing the bombs landing,” Jonathan said.

“She says that one minute you were sitting at a desk and when the buzzing stopped you dived under a desk or table, wherever you were, and just hoped that you wouldn’t be a victim.”

After getting her qualifications as a physiotherapist, she worked in England before moving to Canada in the early 1950s. During that time, she travelled through the US and Mexico with a friend.

“In those days, two young women traveling independently overseas was quite a thing. My mother can remember seeing the rich Texan oil billionaires’ wives with their huge diamond rings,” Jonathan said.

In 1955 she returned to England and married her childhood sweetheart, John Henry Whiting, before welcoming their son.

Sadly, John, passed away a decade later from cute pancreatitis at just 38 years old.

“They had ten happy years in Buckinghamshire where the farm was, but sadly my father died at the aged of 38 in 1965,” their son Jonathan said.

June raised her on as a single parent and they travelled quite a bit as she continued her career as a physiotherapist. In 1987, she made the bold move of emigrating to Australia, settling in Clayfield, Brisbane.

She became an Australian citizen in the early 1990s and other than work, she spent most of her time enjoying hobbies like sewing, playing tennis, learning how to restore furniture, and collecting antiques.

Image: Carinity