Thomas Stout may have missed out on celebrating his 99th birthday, but hitting the monumental century mark brought out the horn honkers and balloons for the former military man who served in the Second World War.
Stout turned 100 years old on Friday and was outside his home at the Serenity Retirement Home in Barrie's south end to see his well-wishers.
Balloons, signs and physically distanced workers, friends and family waited by the road of the home at the corner of Hurst Drive and Minet’s Point Road.
More than 100 vehicles, including a school bus and tow trucks, drove by honking horns and yelling happy birthday as Stout waved from the shade of a tree.
BarrieToday asked Stout what his secret to living such a long life was.
“Just keep on living. Do what you feel is good and take the bad with the good,” said Stout.
Stout sat in a wheelchair with a glass of his favourite 12-year-old malt scotch from Orkney, Scotland, with a splash of water and waved to the passersby.
He also shared his thoughts on the parade of vehicles as they went by.
“Great, it's really great,” Stout said. “I didn’t think about this and that Sasha would have done all this for me.”
Sasha Dewey is one the personal support workers (PSWs) who take care of Stout and who organized the day’s festivities.
After the last year of missed celebrations, Dewey told BarrieToday she wasn’t letting this one go by.
“He missed his 99th birthday last year; this one is too big to not do something,” said Dewey. “I’ve been a PSW for nine years and no one has ever latched on to my heart like him. There is something very special about this man.”
Dewey said she had help from others at the home and the Barrie Royal Canadian Legion. Barrie-Innisfil MP John Brassard also assisted to get out the word. Brassard also attended the event to wish Stout a happy birthday.
Stout was born in Scotland's Orkney Islands and served in the Second World War as a member of the Royal Engineer Regiment, making his way to the rank of corporal. He was responsible for moving troops back and forth by train, all while trying to avoid being bombed by enemy forces.
Stout came to Canada in the 1950s and he and his wife, Nancy, had a son Allistar and daughter Sheila.
While Stout’s wife and son have since passed away, his daughter Sheila Black was on hand for the festivities. She said she was thrilled at the event.
“This is just amazing, such a wonderful day for him,” Black said. “It was a secret and he’s been asking what was going on, but I told him you have to wait until your birthday and find out.
"He’ll talk about this for days," she added.
Stout’s military service kept him away from home until after Sheila was born.
“He was still serving and got home when I was two years old," she said. "That must have been hard for parents who were overseas, but that's what he had to do. But he was a great dad, just a wonderful person and father.”
Black said her dad is still sharp, sometimes having a better memory than her.
“He is very alert. You can give him a phone number and he’ll ring it off to you later on,” she said. “He remembers dates and stuff like that way better than me or others.”
Dewey said the whole Serenity Retirement Home family was thrilled for Stout and are looking into whether he is the oldest surviving Second World War veteran in Barrie.
“He is well liked. He still has that nice Scottish accent and enjoys his favourite show, the Hit Music Parade, every Friday at 8:30 p.m.,” Dewey said.
“He is a special man.”
