Community
18 January, 2026
Milestones keep coming for second oldest in state
We're wishing Maud Coates a very belated 109th birthday.
MAUD Coates really is a force to be reckoned with.
And each December, she reaches another magnificant milestone.
Last month, Mrs Coates continued to defy odds by reaching her 109th birthday, making her one of the oldest people in Victoria.
Each year is a continuation of a truly extraordinary life full of sacrifice and love.
Maud Groom was born in Natone, Tasmania.
She was raised on a small dairy farm at West Pine, 131 km North-West of Launceston.
Mrs Coates left school at the age of 14 to help her family out on the farm.
When she was 20, she got a job as a home helper in Burnie and during her spare time, she attended secretarial classes.
She then worked as a clerk for the company Tasmanian Breweries.
But she knew she wanted something a little more out of life.
Mrs Coates enrolled in the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) on 3 March 1942 in Hobart, Tasmania.
She was mustered as an Office Orderly due to her prior experience and typing skills.
After travelling to the mainland for her first posting at the No. 1 Engineering School at Melbourne Showgrounds, Mrs Coates received training as a wireless telegraphist.
Upon completing her training, she was posted to the records section of RAAF Headquarters where she served as a clerk general from February 10, 1943.
On November 4, 1943, she was posted to the RAAF Canteen Services Unit in Melbourne and then moved to the Southern region where she served for the remainder of the war. On January 1, 1945, she was promoted to Temporary Corporal and was later discharged on February 25 1946.
After the war, Mrs Coates married George Coates, and they shared three children together, Bill, Judith and Andrew.
She settled into married and family life on a farm at Traynors Lagoon.
And as if that wasn’t extraordinary enough, Mrs Coates lived at home up until a few years ago, when she moved in to Kara Court nursing home.
She has remained there ever since.
On her birthday, which fell on December 11, many members of her family travelled from far and wide to celebrate with her.
This was also alongside fellow residents and staff at East Wimmera Health Service’s Kara Court nursing home in St Arnaud.