A summary of my life: Born 1938, grew up in Orange, finished high school education at Orange High School in 1954. Joined NSW Police Force in 1959, transferred to Dubbo in 1960 where I served for nearly 35 years in General Duties and Forensic Services. Took early retirement at age 56 years and became manager of Old Dubbo Gaol for 4 years and then worked there as a casual until I retired at age 65. In 1962 I married a local young lady, we have two children and four grandchildren. Faye and I have just celebrated our 58th wedding anniversary.

What two life changing practices may have improved your quality of life? One is joining the NSW Police Force. It gave me a great appreciation of experiencing the worst and best of humanity - fortunately, the best far outshone the worst. The second is marriage, being raised in a loving home relationship set the basis for me to enjoy a long and loving life with my wife Faye and our two children and their children.

READ ALSO:

For what in life do you feel most grateful? The benefits of western medicine, cancer has had two nibbles at me and had they not been diagnosed early I would not be here today to enjoy my family and sharing their journeys through life.

If you could have lunch with one person (alive or deceased), who would you choose? My paternal great grandfather, there is a major skeleton in our family cupboard, and he would be able to answer the questions my siblings and I would like to ask.

My greatest achievement is over the past 50 years or so, being involved in various not-for-profit organisations or service clubs.

What was the best decision you ever made? Not moving away from Dubbo after retirement.

What was the first thing you noticed when you arrived at Orana Gardens? It lived up to our expectations with a warm welcome from our new neighbours and invitations to join in the Village's various social activities. Our experience has been further enhanced by the talents of our Estate Manager Sue in establishing and maintaining a happy Village environment.

My favourite thing about Orana Gardens is ... choosing the social activities in which you wish to be involved - it's an individual choice as to what lifestyle you choose to pursue.

The most interesting thing about me is not for me to answer but, rather a question that should be asked of my peers. I hope there would be more positives than negatives.

Tell me one thing you can teach this next generation? In one word, respect, and be forever mindful of the wants of others. Life is not like a video game where you can press the reset button and life returns to normal. Some of your actions can have tragic consequences and can't be reset.

We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.