Toastmasters International -Saluting Toastmasters Centenarians

Walter McHugh and Jose Petrick are dramatic proof of the adage that it’s never too late to learn in life. One is 100, the other 101, and, remarkably, both are still members of Toastmasters.

The two live on opposite sides of the world—McHugh in Southern California, Petrick in Australia’s Northern Territory—but they share a love for Toastmasters and the benefits it provides. They also share the same birth year with the organization: McHugh, Petrick, and Toastmasters International were all born in 1924.

Here’s more on these two venerable members.

Walter McHugh

McHugh, who turned 100 in December 2024, became a Toastmaster in 1981, 44 years ago. He is a U.S. Army veteran who served as a radar technician and operator in World War II. After the war, he moved to Southern California to work in the aerospace industry as an engineer, joined the San Pedro Toastmasters Club, and has remained a club member ever since.

“What I think I’ve enjoyed most is how I’ve gotten to meet some pretty interesting people along the way,” says McHugh in a phone conversation.

He has made many longtime friends of all ages in the San Pedro club, which itself is nearly 90 years old—the club chartered in 1938. McHugh says he has found Toastmasters to be a great place for creativity, whether giving prepared speeches, doing Table Topics^®, or participating in speech contests, all of which he has done many times. “I like to tell stories,” he says.

McHugh’s speeches through the years have been entertaining and intriguing, says longtime club member Binoy Yohannan. “He often talked about his life experiences—growing up in Mississippi and Arizona, his college experience, his job, meeting his wife, travel, etc.,” says Yohannan.

McHugh, who also worked for 15 years as a math and science teacher, says he still goes to most meetings of the San Pedro club. A caregiver brings him and he participates in a wheelchair. He also attended the club’s online meetings on Zoom during the pandemic.

"I’ve gotten to meet some pretty interesting people along the way."

Walter McHugh

His son Kevin, who lives in Washington state, has visited the group’s meetings with his dad a number of times over the years. In a visit about six years ago, he taped one of his dad’s speeches. It was about what McHugh said was one of the most valuable books he ever received: the Boy Scouts Handbook, given to him when he was 12. It was the source of great information, he said in the speech, the book becoming “my Wikipedia, my Google, my Siri.”

Kevin said his dad appreciates the camaraderie of the club. “It’s been a very good thing for him,” he says. “I think [Toastmasters] is one of the things he really enjoys and even now he looks forward to.”

McHugh enjoys touting the successes of his club. He said it has helped improve the speaking skills of those in high-stakes professions, including police officers and firefighters. The San Pedro Toastmasters Club has also aided local high school students, helping them hone their communication abilities for academic competitions.

“I’m proud of my club,” says McHugh.

Jose Petrick

Petrick (whose first name is pronounced Jo-zee) is a resident of Alice Springs in Australia’s Northern Territory. She joined the Alice Springs Toastmasters Club in 1993 and has been an enthusiastic and dedicated member ever since, still active in club meetings, say fellow members. In her mid-90s, she dove into Toastmasters’ new education program, Pathways, and advanced to Level 5 in the Presentation Mastery path.

“Jose shows you can be a Toastmaster, still practicing and learning, at whatever your age,” says club member Jill Brew.

Petrick turned 101 in February. Asked about her motivation, she says, “What keeps me going is trying to remember funny sayings and happenings for the Humorist [meeting] role, and working on my next speech.”

Petrick has lived a colorful life. She worked as a registered nurse in her native England, before moving to Australia and working on a cattle farm in a remote area of the country. At 52, she began a journalism career, writing for a local newspaper, the Alice Springs Centralian Advocate.

Later, she wrote a popular history book, The History of Alice Springs Through Street Names, which tells the stories of the 250 people after whom the town’s streets were named. Before joining Toastmasters, she was a member of the local Toastmistresses club. (Toastmistresses was a separate but similar organization for women that was created in the 1930s, before women were officially allowed to be Toastmasters members.)

For members of the Alice Springs Toastmasters, Petrick’s positive spirit and her wisdom are a gift. “Jose’s speeches about life and experience with World War II are always very captivating, and her humor is on point,” says Club President June Larchin.

Fellow club member Brew was introduced to Toastmasters by Petrick more than 20 years ago. She marvels at how her friend remains genuinely interested in other people’s lives and stories.

“Jose welcomes interaction,” she says. “She has a smile that draws people in. She also has a great sense of fun.”

Petrick says she loves laughing with her fellow members and takes pleasure in seeing the young members—the “youngies” as she calls them—becoming comfortable in the club and having fun.

“I enjoy seeing the youngies being so pleased to see each other as they come through the door,” she says.

Petrick’s research and writing on local history contributed to her being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2000, for her service to “the preservation and recording of the history of Alice Springs.” (When the Olympics were held in Sydney, Australia, in 2000, Petrick carried the Olympic torch through Alice Springs.) In 2017, the Historical Society of the Northern Territory published her autobiography, titled Bournemouth, The Bush … and Beyond!