Jack Lockett

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John Henry Lockett (22 January 1891–25 May 2002), better known as Jack Lockett, was an Australian World War I veteran and the oldest man in Australia at the time of his death at the age of 111. He died three days after Australia's oldest woman, Christina Cock, who was 114 at the time of her death.

1 Overview
2 References
3 See also
4 External link

[edit] Overview

Lockett was born in the small Victorian town of Waanyarra, near Bendigo. He left school at the age of twelve, to work on a local farm. Later he worked for his uncles in The Mallee. In 1916, Lockett travelled to Mildura to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. He served in France, earning promotion to sergeant, and was discharged on 1919-09-20.

After the war, Lockett returned to The Mallee and selected a 1 square mile (2.6 km²) block of land in Linga, deciding to make his living as a farmer. In 1923 he married Maybell Ingwerson, and they had four children together. In 1963 the couple retired to Bendigo, leaving the farmland, which now covers more than 130 000 acres (526 km²), in the care of their children and grandchildren.

In 1998, Lockett and his fellow known surviving veterans were awarded the Légion d'honneur by the French government for their service in the war. In 2000, at the age of 109, he participated in the 2000 Olympic Torch Relay.

Lockett died of kidney failure at age 111.