8th of December, 1918 – 11th of October, 2024

Wynne Malkin was born in Brighton, England in December 1918. Her father, Edwin Malkin served in France with the Royal Sussex Regiment during the 1st World War . Her mother Florence was a nurse.

She had three sisters and two brothers, and the whole family emigrated to New Zealand in 1925, settling in Waipukurau.

In 1941 she married Christopher John Bullen who worked at the Gear Meat Company in Petone, and they set up house in Upper Hutt. They had two children Chris and Jim, and once they were old enough she resumed work as a kindergarten teacher, before becoming elaborate secretary to Industries and Commerce Minister Phil Holloway in the Nash Labour Government.

Her interests went more towards local politics, and in the 1960’s she stood for the Upper Hutt Council, where despite topping the poll, it was made clear that she wouldn’t be Deputy Mayor. She promised to herself that the next woman to be in the same position wouldn’t suffer the same put-down, and when Doris Nicholson topped the poll in a later election, the post of Deputy Mayor was almost automatically hers.

After Chris retired, he and Wynne moved to Levin, and Wynne was a regular attendant at local and national political meetings. When Chris passed away at the age of 92, Wynne moved into the Reevedon Retirement Village, she later sold it and moved into the Reevedon rest home.

Wynne celebrated her 100th birthday in December 2018, when asked if she had any secret to her longevity, she said “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I have no secret. I just lived each day and got on with it.”

She lived this way right up until the end, teaching others at the rest home how to play indoor bowls, and helping to run games of Trivial Pursuit. Only two days prior to her death, she was talking to staff about another new activity.

Wynn Bullen passed away on Friday, October 11th, 2024. Just weeks short of her 106th birthday.

Source: New Zealand Herald

17/10/24