From a chance meeting with Marilyn Monroe to administering first aid to firefighters in some of Victoria’s worst disasters, Dawn Rooke has seen and done much in her 99 years.
Celebrating her 99th birthday on Tuesday 30 September surrounded by her friends at the Lilydale Croquet Club, Ms Rooke was delighted and overjoyed by the spread they put on for her.
First joining the croquet club in 2005, Ms Rooke still plays regularly, showing off her skills and competitive edge.
But before her days playing croquet, Ms Rooke was an adventurer from a very young age.
Born in 1926 in Mildura to a father who was a bank manager, Ms Rooke said she moved around a lot, following her father’s work.
By the age of 22, Ms Rooke had married an English master mariner in London, something that would take her around the world multiple times.
“He was captain of a Shell oil tanker, and for the first four years of our marriage, I travelled with him in oil tankers. And with oil, you went just about everywhere,” she said.
“We’d pick up crude oil in Iran or Iraq, and then you take it to the countries that need the oil, or countries that can refine that oil into motor spirit or aircraft fuel, and then we would take that refined product to other countries. So in that way, I’ve been nearly everywhere.
“I’ve had an interesting life.”
From the South of France to the very top of the northern hemisphere, to places like Hammerfest in Norway, Ms Rooke saw much of the world in four years, experiencing life abroad and gaining many memories.
But there’s one story from around 1956 that she could never forget.
Her husband’s ship had docked when an invitation to attend a dinner party came from someone of rank. Ms Rooke recalls it being a count or viscount.
“It was a big mansion of a place, and my husband couldn’t go because he had to be on duty. So I went on my own,” she said.
“We were changing for dinner, and there was a knock on my door, and I opened it, and there was Marilyn Monroe. She was also invited, and she said to me, ‘excuse me, have you got a safety pin?’ And very quietly she said, ‘I’ve broken my strap, would you please use the safety pin and fasten it?’
“I didn’t realise it was her to begin with. And then it suddenly dawned on me that it might be Marilyn Monroe.”
Unfortunately, with no memento or photograph to confirm the story, it is just Ms Rooke’s memory that keeps it alive.
But the timeline all adds up. Ms Rooke remembers her as being rather quiet and most likely recovering from her first miscarriage.
In 1956, Marilyn Monroe and her then husband, Arthur Miller, were honeymooning in countryside London, at Parkside House, a home in Surrey owned by Lord Drogheda, while she was filming The Prince and the Showgirl. They spent four months in England.
It was this year that she also experienced her first miscarriage.
“She was such a lovely person and very quiet, and she said to me, ‘would you sit with me at the table?’ But in those days, it was man, woman, man, so she was put just one away from me,” Ms Rooke said.
“She had had an unfortunate life. She was quite a good actress, she never talked about it but I only knew her for about 48 hours. She was very humble, very nice. I enjoyed that. I never stopped talking about it afterwards.”
After four years of being at sea, and travelling non-stop, Ms Rooke said it came to a time when she wanted to start a family. Soon after, her and her husband welcomed two daughters into the world.
“And that was the end of my travels, of course,” she said.
At least, for a while.
Just two years ago, Ms Rooke was flitting off to Canada and Alaska with a friend, her final overseas adventure but her desire to explore hasn’t ended. Next month she sets off on a bus tour of the Flinders Ranges.
When not jetsetting across the globe, raising children or playing croquet, Ms Rooke spent 21 years volunteering for the Red Cross, teaching first aid and administering it during fire disasters.
“We would treat the firefighters when they came in with burnt feet and injuries. So we would treat them, put them to bed, and feed them, and that’s what I mostly did during the bushfires,” she said.
“I would also go out on road accidents or aircraft accidents. Anything, we were called.”
For a period of 48 hours, Ms Rooke and other trained Red Cross first aiders were called in to man Victoria’s ambulances.
“At one stage, the Victorian ambulance drivers, they were all told they had to wash down their ambulances and they objected to having to do that. So they went on strike.
“And so Red Cross was called out. Their first aiders took over. Some of them drove, and I was in the back of one of the ambulances.
“A call came through for a woman who was in emergency for a baby birth. Another one was a heartattack and they said to me, ‘which one?’ I said, ‘I’m not taking the baby. I’m taking for the heart patient’.”
This was before triaging and priority patients but Ms Rooke said it was the right call.
Not slowing down any time soon, if she can help it, Ms Rooke still drives short distances and is active in her four great-grandchildren’s lives.
“They’re all in school, so they keep me busy,” she said.
Identifying herself as probably “the longest member and the oldest member” at the Lilydale Croquet Club, Ms Rooke said it’s not just the joy of the game but much more that keeps her playing.
“It’s the companionship, and the fact that it’s not so competitive as some other games are. And you have your good days, you have your bad days. Some days, you play a good game, other days you don’t.
“I’ve seen a lot of people coming and going throughout the years but it’s nice to be able to get out of the house, because that’s necessary. Everyone’s very friendly and they all accept you as you are.
“I’ve been very happy here.”
