Frank Mawer

BIOGRAPHY

Frank Mawer was born in New South Wales, Australia, on 15 August 1912. In 1924, his mother died, followed by his father’s death just two years later, leaving him and his three younger sisters to become wards of the state. Forced to earn a living at an early age, his sisters went into domestic service, while he was sent to work as a laborer on a dairy farm for some years, before later becoming an apprentice carpenter.

When he was working as a carpenter in Sydney, he met his future wife, Elizabeth, who was employed as a secretary in the same building. The couple would marry in 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II. As a conscientious objector, Mawer refused to partake in the war due to his religious beliefs. Instead, he worked for a year on the construction of a building which housed ammunition for the Australian Army in North Queensland.

After his wife was diagnosed with dementia, he became her caretaker, as they were opposed to sending her to live in a nursing home. The couple would remain together for 70 years until Elizabeth’s death in 2009 from breast cancer.

Mawer remained healthy and independent well past his 100th birthday, and was still living independently as of his 109th birthday, where he would still cook for himself. He would continue to live on his own until early 2022, when a small stroke left him hospitalized for six weeks. Following physical therapy, he was able to make a recovery, but he chose to move in with his son and his partner. For 62 years, he would travel with his family to celebrate Christmas in Bateau Bay, a village on the Central Coast region of New South Wales. At the age of 107, he flew to the Gold Coast in Queensland to celebrate the holidays.

His sister, Helen, died in October 2020 at the age of 102, possibly making them the oldest living pair of siblings in the country.

In August 2022, he celebrated his 110th birthday, becoming the 6th Australian man to reach this age. Shortly after his birthday, he contracted COVID-19, and passed away a little over a month later, aged 110 years, 33 days.