Staff and neighbours at Kingsway Court retirement village attended a morning tea on February 2 to celebrate the popular resident’s birthday.
They presented him with a book of written tributes, a compilation of newspaper articles and a DVD featuring activities recorded over his 10 years at the village.
“The whole village turned out for morning tea. It was a lovely moment,” Mr Ewers said.
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READ NOWFestivities continued to the weekend, with his daughters organising friends from around Australia to gather for his birthday.
“When I looked out over all these people I felt very teary to tell the truth; I was rather overwhelmed. I’m vastly touched by it all.”
Mr Ewers’ church held a morning tea after the Sunday service to mark the occasion and he received cards from the Queen, Prime Minister, Governor-General, Wanneroo Mayor Tracey Roberts and other government ministers.
An active member of many of the village’s social groups, he performed with the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of WA for more than 40 years and helped run a musical playgroup for toddlers until last year.
Though he never drank alcohol and gave up smoking long ago, Mr Ewers’ advice for a long life was to laugh and sing a lot.