Fred Cooper of Gore, who celebrated his 100th birthday in Te Anau last Friday, says the secret to a long and healthy life, apart from having the right genes, is “hard work, being interested in life, people and what's happening around you”, as well as “having a positive attitude”.

Longevity certainly runs in the Cooper family, as Fred's sister Joyce will be 99 next Tuesday and they had an aunt who lived to 103.

Born Frederick Charles Cooper on 14 January 1922 into a Gore farming family, he was the first of six children, followed by his siblings Joyce, Alan, Rua, Bruce and Joan.

He grew up in a “scrim and paper house clad in weatherboards that were full of borer”.

“It had a coal range with a boiler on the side and no electricity until I was four. I remember when they were putting in the power poles,” Mr Cooper says.

He went to East Gore School and remembers the school having a horse paddock for its pupils, many of whom rode to school on horseback.

Fred Cooper when he joined the NZ Army. Photo: Supplied

He was 17 when WWII broke out and soon he was recruited to the war effort.

An engineer in the 7th Field Company Engineers, he served in the Middle East and the experience gave him inner strength to draw on in later life.

When he was decomissioned from the army in 1946, he worked with his father on the farm for a while, before getting a job with a builder and learning the construction trade.

In 1948 he paired up with Alec Jones, and together they started Jones & Cooper Builders Ltd.

“We started off building cottages and farm buildings. In 1955 we built our first commercial building, a grain store for the Fleming’s Creamoata Mills in Gore,” Mr Cooper recalls.

He married Helen (Nell) Carter in 1953, with whom he has four children – three girls: Pam, Karen and Jan-Marie, and son Peter.

The Cooper family, (L-R) Pam, Jan-Marie, Fred, Peter, Nell and Karen. Photo: Supplied

His association with Te Anau started in the early days with a hut on the Upukerora River, a base for fishing and hunting.

In 1949 Fred and his friend Ron Bishop bought the section in Matai Street, Te Anau and moved a hut onto the section. Later he bought a holiday home in Mokonui St, which the family still owns today.

Those were happy days. Mr Cooper's daughter, Karen remembers her father saying he was a millionaire, because one's wealth is measured in happiness and not in money.

His hobbies for many years were horse riding with the Eastern Southland Hunt Club and fishing on Lake Te Anau.

Fred Cooper building the French Ridge Hut in Mt Aspiring National Park. Photo: Supplied

In the 1980s his firm was commissioned to build many tramping huts, amongst them were the Muller Hut in Mt Cook National Park, Brewster Hut in Mt Aspiring National Park as well as the shelter on the McKinnon Pass on the Milford Track. The last of the huts built by Jones & Cooper was the Pompolona Hut in 2014.

In 1985 Fred's son, Peter took over Jones & Cooper construction firm, but his father continued to work there. To this day he still drives in every afternoon and pops into the buildinng to check on things.

Mr Cooper has never lost his connection with wartime friends and the friendships he made through the Returned Servicemen Association.

He has been a member of the Gore RSA since 1946, and is a life member, who has played a big part in supporting veterans over the decades.

In January 2013 Fred Cooper received Queen's Service Medal in New Year NZ Honours awarded in Otago and Southland for Services to community. His honour was a recognition of more than 50 years of work with the Gore RSA and 40 years with the Gore and Districts Senior Citizens Club.

Mr Cooper is a life member of the RSA, having served in several roles, including as the Otago-Southland district RSA president for two years and a member of the national executive.

On Friday, 14 January about 83 people gathered at the Cooper family holiday house in Mokonui street to celebrate Fred's 100th birthday. Amongst them were his sister Joyce, his children, 10 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.