Jack Lockett

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

1 Overview
2 Honours and awards
3 External links
4 References
5 See also

[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 September 20, 1919.

After the war, Lockett returned to The Mallee and selected a 1 square mile (2.6 km²) block of land in Linga, Victoria, 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 covered 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 made a Chevalier (Knight) of 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. On 11 June 2001, he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community of Bendigo, particularly as a representative of Australia war veterans. Lockett died of kidney failure at age 111.