Highlight of 100th letter from Dutch king

He still lives in his own home and still reads without glasses. Now he has received a very important card from a very important person from his homeland.

Jan van Baarlen, of Invercargill, turned 100 earlier this week and, rarely for a person who has reached a century, he gained a new experience.

At family celebrations for the birthday, Mr van Baarlen made a speech, for the first time in his life. He shared his thoughts on his life, advising younger people to do a trade, and how he had loved his life in New Zealand.

Mr van Baarlen was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands and left that city on Boxing Day, 1952, arriving in Invercargill in early 1953. In June of that year he married fiancée Alice in Invercargill, whom he first met in the Netherlands. To be allowed to come to New Zealand they could not be married.

The couple have three children, Danny, Johnny and Irene, 10 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Mr van Baarlen was a fitter-turner and worked at Invercargill Engineering for 19 years before moving to the aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point, where he eventually retired aged 63. He celebrated 70 years of marriage last year — Alice is 92 — and lived in Cromwell for a while in retirement, but returned to Invercargill about 15 years ago. The couple still live in their own home.

He did not have any trick to making 100, apart from having the goal of reaching triple figures for the past few years.

He received a card from King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander and a book about his homeland, also from the king. Mr van Baarlen has retained his Dutch citizenship.

— Staff reporter