By PEACE IJIYERA
MEET Regina Kukla, the latest centenarian in town.
Ms Kukla turned 100 surrounded by 85 family and friends on March 28.
Her celebration was in the form of a mass held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Morwell, followed by a surprise party in the school hall.
Ms Kukla has lived in the Latrobe Valley for more than 60 years. During her career, she worked at Faulkner’s Delicatessen Morwell, where she built friendships with people, mostly the migrants in the community due to her ability to speak a myriad of languages, including Italian, German, Russian and Polish.
Holding onto her Polish heritage, Ms Kukla was president of the Polish Seniors Club in the Latrobe Valley for some 30 years. She was awarded a gold cross by former Polish
president, Andrzej Duda in Melbourne in 2018.
Ms Kukla went on quite the journey before arriving in Morwell.
Originally from a small town called Ruzhany, (in the Belarus area) Ms Kukla moved to Germany to work in an ammunition factory during World War 2 when she was young. She lived in Germany for 10 years. It was there she met her husband Jan (John) and had her first two children.
Following WW2, the family had the choice to move to either Australia or America. They chose the land down under and signed a two year contract to pay the fares back. On a boat, they arrived at Melbourne in 1950 and lived in migrant camps. The migrant camps were home to those from European countries including, Poland, Ukraine, Italy and Greece, who had been displaced from the war.
The first camp the family stayed at was Bonegilla. From there they moved to Rushworth, then to a migrant camp in West Sale. The conditions of the camps were not ideal and privacy was close to nothing. Ms Kukla’s daughter, Marie D’Alia said, “The camps were really hard, there were a lot of families all in one sort of area, all that sometimes divided them was a blanket”.
During this time, Ms Kukla’s husband worked on the rail tracks. After living in migrant camps for nearly 10 years, the family moved to Traralgon in 1959.
Ms Kukla’s husband got a job at the Australian Paper Mill and soon after, a job working at the State Electricity Commission (SEC). They didn’t live in Traralgon “for long” before they packed up and moved into their brand new home on Holmes Road, Morwell in 1960. This became their family home. Ms Kukla still lives there to this day.
The birthday girl described her party as “unbelievable”.
“I didn’t expect so many people,” she said. Still young at heart, Ms Kukla joked, “I forgot that I was 100, I thought I am still young.”
Ms Kukla was well-celebrated and received letters from local dignitaries including Federal Member for Gippsland, Darren Chester and prominent world leaders including Pope Leo XIV, King Charles and Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.
A blessed woman, Ms Kukla has six children, 12 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Through all her life struggles, Ms Kukla remained strong, her Catholic faith being her source of strength.
“Being young, in strange land not knowing the language, and not having any family around me, it wasn’t an easy life for me,” she said.
“I went through and I thank God that I’m still alive.”
Ms Kukla’s advice to everyone is to “live your life and be in peace together”.
