He will also tell you it has something to do with an army adage he picked up during his war days.

"Beer on the inside and methylated spirits on the outside," Mr Blowes says.

The Salamander Bay man did not just mark a century on April 4, he also celebrated 72 years of marriage with wife Pattie, 92.

Unlike the answer you get when asking him on his lengthy life, he knows what has kept his marriage going.

"I do everything she says."

The Blowes met at a ball in Mudgee, where Pattie lived and Cyril had moved to, to open his menswear business.

"War hastened things along," Mr Blowes said. "I was having the time of my life.

"But my mates were going into the services and I had no one to play cricket and tennis with."

They were married in March, 1941, one year after Cyril joined the war.

"I think when you meet during wartime and come out of it with a husband, you have to use that chance," Mrs Blowes said.

The couple raised a family - two boys and two girls - in Mudgee while Mr Blowes expanded his business, became an active member of Legacy, the P&C, and played sport.

Mr Blowes' active life did not stop once he retired and the pair moved to Port Stephens in 1980.

"I've been with Port Stephens Probus Club for the last 24 years," Mr Blowes said.

"I think it is an excellent club for community spirit."

He also remained active with Legacy and joined the coastal patrol. Now Mr Blowes enjoys time in the garden and reading the Sydney Morning Herald on the iPad.

The pair have 12 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren who, to mark Mr Blowes' century, gave him a gold cricket bat signed by them all.