Courtesy of Leonie Pendergast
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Leonie Pendergast, a 90-year-old businesswoman from Omeo, Australia. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I'm 90 years old and still work full-time in our family's business, a cuckoo clock shop called Omeo Clocks and Glass. I love meeting people and looking after the shop. I firmly believe that as you get older, provided you're still healthy enough, you're much better off doing something. Once you sit down at my age, it's all over.
My husband's family were pioneers in Omeo, Australia, where we live. According to the 2021 Census, it's a small town with a population of 411 people.
My daughter Deb and her husband built the first section of our original shop, the Omeo German Cuckoo Clock Shop. However, Omeo was too quiet for a young couple, so they moved on, and I took over. I had spent 26 years working at the original shop location.
In the meantime, my husband, our son, and I bought another business, Omeo Rural and Hardware Supplies. My husband Tony, who is 88, still works at the hardware shop and drives our truck every day.
After 26 years, I sold the original building where our shop was located. When my daughter moved back to town during the pandemic, I wasn't really enjoying retirement, so she and her partner ended up reopening the cuckoo clock shop at new premises on a smaller scale, and I've been working here for the past three years.
I love meeting people — that's the main thing. We have interesting stock, too. We sell Christmas decorations and cuckoo clocks, which are unique.
I usually work from 10 a.m. until 4:30 or 5 p.m. I do everything in the shop, and my dog, Ivy, a Maltese Shih Tzu mix, keeps me company. I also spend time washing the tea towels for our family's bakery a few doors down.
Courtesy of Leonie Pendergast
When it comes to longevity, I think a lot of it comes down to genetics, but there are two things I've never done — drink alcohol or smoke. Growing up, my parents owned pubs, and we lived on-site, so by the time I was 17, I'd seen enough people drinking to last me a lifetime. It didn't interest me at all.
I also think it's important to stay active. You don't sit down if you're running a business like this one. I took even more steps in the other shop location because I had a flight of stairs to climb.
Tony and I still live independently together in our own home. I have a hot dinner on the table every night when he comes home after work. Our diet is fairly plain. I always make myself an egg on toast or an omelet for breakfast. Ivy and I share a pie or sandwich for lunch, and it's always meat and vegetables or a salad for dinner. We always have small portions.
I'm Catholic and I believe religious faith does give you grounding. We've experienced many hardships, including bushfires that have displaced us for up to 10 days at a time. But faith gives you something to hang on to when things go wrong.
Looking back on my life, I'm happy with what I've achieved, but I would have liked to further my education. I left school the week before I turned 14. Back then, you couldn't go online and do a university degree or add to your education like you can nowadays.
Overall, I'd say my husband and I are very blessed. We have a new great-granddaughter who is due soon, and we're having a quiet Christmas because we'll be busy with the baby. Tony and I both have some health problems, but we do what our health allows us to do.
