86-Year-Old Publican Still Serving Up Hope in Rural Australia

At 86, most people are thinking about retirement, but Jim Pohl is still up before dawn prepping dinner specials and keeping watch over his country pub in Perenjori, Western Australia.

The Malaysian immigrant started his first pub at 26 after a boss told him he was "wasting his time" working for someone else. He took the advice to heart and never looked back.

Over the next six decades, Jim owned 16 pubs across regional Western Australia. He tried city life twice in Perth but it didn't stick.

"Better people, greater atmosphere and people are real in the bush," Jim says. "You're dealing with real people who get their hands dirty and know what work is."

Now Jim runs the Perenjori Hotel with his son Kirk, 350 kilometers northeast of Perth. The kitchen churns out up to 100 meals on "T-bone Tuesday" nights, drawing crowds from across the region.

Every morning, Jim prepares the evening special for Kirk, then takes his spot at the end of the bar to oversee operations. "I need something to worry about tomorrow," he explains when asked about retirement plans.

Sunny's Take

The pub has become more than just a place to eat and drink. Over the years, 13 female backpackers working at the hotel fell in love with local men and stayed in Australia, including Kirk's wife Silvia, who arrived from Italy on her 27th birthday.

Jim jokes that he deserves a medal from immigration for the 21 children born to couples who met at his pub. He counts them all as his grandchildren.

The family's commitment was tested in 2021 when Cyclone Seroja tore through town. Jim was sleeping upstairs when a chimney flew past his window, and by morning, the entire roof had blown across the road.

Insurance offered a payout, but the Pohls chose to rebuild instead. The hotel reopened in 2023, better than before.

"This was the only one that I kept for him," Jim says of his son. "And it's probably one of the better pubs in the Midwest, even if I say so."

Regular customers waiting outside before opening admit Jim's doing something right. "He makes everybody welcome," says Tom Downer, adding with a laugh, "I can't believe I'm actually saying that about Jim."

Another regular, Steve King, sees through the tough exterior: "He pretends he's tough, but with the staff he's like butter."

Jim credits his success to those same larrikins at the bar, the real people who make country towns tick. In a region where small communities struggle to keep their doors open, the Pohls prove that genuine connection and hard work can keep a town's heartbeat strong for generations.