Ryman Healthcare names newest village in honour of late entertainer Bert Newton

Patti Newton, wife of the late entertainer Bert Newton, said she was honoured Ryman Healthcare had named its newest retirement community after her husband. More than 200 people attended the unveiling of the name of the new village in Highett, 16km south-east of Melbourne’s CBD.

“Bert was a people person; he loved to make people happy and the quality of this beautiful village will do that,” Patti said. “I’m on the search for memorabilia to have within the village so you can always see his smiling moon face. “He never wanted to be forgotten, so now with the Logie named in his honour and this village, he’s doing well.”

A quadruple Gold Logie winner and Logie Hall of Fame inductee, Bert Newton was a pioneer of television and radio, filling the airwaves and screens of millions of homes for more than half a century.

Ryman Healthcare’s Victorian Sales and Community Relations Manager Debra Richardson (pictured with Patti at the launch) said the company had been naming its villages after exceptional people for more than 30 years. The Bert Newton Retirement Village will include independent apartments, assisted living in serviced apartments, and an aged care centre. It will be home to around 230 people when complete, with the first residents due to move in next year. Ryman opened its first Melbourne village, Weary Dunlop, in Wheelers Hill in 2014. The company now has six more operational villages in Victoria and seven more sites at various stages of the planning, design and construction process.