Just 9500 out of 38,000,000. That’s the number of Canadians who are currently at least 100 years old. A rarified group, and we can count Pelham’s Ken Hoare among them.
Kenneth John Hoare attended rural Sharon Public School in the Village of Colborne, Northumberland County, but left school at the end of Grade 4 out of necessity to work in farming. He went on to work at a foundry, a dairy, and even a travelling carnival for a while.
He married Mary Lovett on November 20, 1943. They had eight children, 18 grandchildren, 31 great grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.
Ken served in an artillery division of the Canadian Army from 1942 until 1945, and enlisted in a reserve regiment until 1950.
“He was particularly adept at tinkering with motor mechanics, and was remembered as a reliable soldier, who deplored the fact that he had so little education,” said his grand daughter Tracey O’Brien, an information technology manager at City Hall in Toronto.
Once discharged, Ken worked at the Town of Cobourg as a grader operator in road rehabilitation.
“He drove the grader to the hospital once, when he had to get his appendix removed,” said O’Brien.
In 1963 the family moved to St. Catharines, where Ken joined the family landscaping business with his brother Len. In the winters, he worked plowing the city streets. He worked at Peninsula Landscaping in Fonthill until retirement well into his 80s.
“Ken and Mary were an active part of a camping group that called itself the ‘Boomerangs,’ and enjoyed summers at Ontario camp grounds, where the entire Hoare clan would come together and spend time around the campfire, inventing gourmet ‘pie iron’ recipes,” said O’Brien.
Mary passed away in 1993, after almost 50 years of marriage. She was in a long-term care home for many years prior to her death, due to a stroke.
“During those years, Ken was with her for dinners,” said O’Brien. “He never missed a day.”
As a widower, Ken lived independently in his own home, and retained his driver's licence until the age of 96.
“Ken is revered as a hardworking, extremely social, humble, and kind man, loved by all,” said O’Brien. “He has been a member of the Fonthill Legion for almost 30 years, where he is known for his soft-spoken approachability, his bar order of Black Ice, and his love of bingo and shuffleboard.”
Sadly, a birthday celebration for Ken at the Fonthill Legion on his birthday, July 6, had to be postponed, due to a recent and serious deterioration in his health, which necessitated a rush to the hospital. He is now in palliative care.
“My grandfather’s health has declined very quickly,” said O’Brien. “With a party not possible, we had to be satisfied with a small family gathering at his hospital bedside. He truly is one of a kind.”
