Star soprano to sing 'Happy Birthday'

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image: Cor Frederiks’ book.

THE countdown to a special birthday party is under way.
The November 10 party at Sirromet Winery will be one to remember, with performances by the district’s star soprano, Mirusia Louwerse, and accomplished bagpipers including Roddy MacDonald, of Wellington Point.
Birthday boy Cor Frederiks is already excited, with his 80th still months away.
"Eighty means nothing – I have another 20 years to go," says the Cleveland accountant. "A lot of very prominent people have been extremely productive in their eighties and nineties.
"You’ll find a list of them in my book."

THE Money Bible, which Cor published in 1998, lists politicians, writers, artists and church identities, aged 80 to 100, under the heading, "You’re never too old!"
The chapter may give a clue to Cor’s birthday guest list.
"If you are dealing with negative people you will be dragged down to their level," he writes.
"Only cultivate friendships with people who are more positive than you are … it will rub off."
Who could possibly be more positive than Cor Frederiks, opening new offices for his accountancy practice this year and serving as Redlands Christian Businessmen’s Network treasurer and on the Redlands Christian Reform Church property committee? Then enjoying music, stamps, coins, paintings and social golf?
Cor says the achievements of his six children and 11 grandchildren – and the birth of a great-grandchild last month – are most important in his busy life. "I have taught them the value of money and how to save," he says.

THE lesson comes from values formed in his birthplace, the Netherlands, during the Great Depression and World War Two, during which Cor was a wireless operator on a Dutch destroyer under allied command.
He came to Australia to study theology in 1951 but ended up with an accountancy degree from Queensland University.
Cor first practised at Moorooka in the mid 1950s. In 1977 he bought a cattle property near Longreach and lived there for a decade, moving to Thornlands after selling the property in 1987.
Before starting his Cleveland practice in 1991, Cor worked voluntarily with the Haggai Instiute, promoting evangelism in the third world.
He now devotes his life to "helping people maximise their potential" with a philosophy based on Christian principles.

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