Not many people can say they’ve been alive for two pandemics.
But then, not many people reach the ripe old age of 106, like Albert Middleton.
Fellow residents and staff at Veterans Memorial Lodge in Saanich gathered Thursday to mark his birthday with champagne and a cake. And since nobody could find a birthday balloon that went over 100, one had to be doctored for the occasion.
There was also “all the Big Band music and celebrations current COVID-19 guidelines permitted,” according to a brief biography written for the occasion.
Middleton, who was born in 1915 and lived through the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and the current COVID-19 one, which was declared one year ago on his birthday, said he feels “pretty good.”
“Why shouldn’t I be? I’m still alive and kicking.”
Middleton was born and raised in England in a family with four children. He was sent to Canada as a “war orphan” when he was a young teenager, then signed up for the air force and served during the Second World War.
After the war, he used his benefits from Veterans Affairs Canada for a down payment on a 26-hectare hobby farm in Ontario. Through the years, he worked in a number of factories while operating his farm and keeping livestock like cows and pigs.
Middleton was an early adapter of modern technology — buying a tractor when most farmers kept using horses.
After making his way to Victoria, he lived on his own in an apartment adjacent to Beacon Hill Park. A social person, he had many friends and took the bus to Mayfair Shopping Centre each day to meet them.
Middleton said he has no great secrets to longevity, save for exercise and healthy living.
“I’m just damn glad that I’m still alive and I’m still in good health. I can get around.”
He has been married and widowed twice and has three children. He said he has lost count of his grandchildren.
Asked about his thoughts on all the inventions and advancements during his lifetime, Middleton said none of them really stands out.
“I just take it as it comes.”
He said an average day for him at the lodge includes watching “telly,” listening to the radio and taking a walk, although he misses having visitors because of COVID-19.
Activity worker Imran Ranmall said Middleton is a happy-go-lucky man.
“He’s always singing in the corner, out and about,” Ranmall said. “Inspiring for sure to see him around and still going at 106.”
Middleton has been at the lodge since the age of 101, when he moved in with support from his family in Ontario, Veterans Affairs Canada and others. The complex is home to 225 seniors and veterans needing long-term care, and is set on 2.6 hectares with Garry oak meadows.
jbell@timescolonist.com
