5 Inspiring Senior Citizens

1. Olive Riley (108-year-old): World’s Oldest Blogger

An Australian woman, born in Broken Hill, New South Wales, (20 October 1899 – 12 July 2008) believed to have been the world’s oldest blogger.

Olive Riley began her blog The Life of Riley in February 2007 at the age of 107 and made her final post on 26 June 2008 from a nursing home in Woy Woy, New South Wales, complaining of a cough about two weeks before she died at the age of 108. She had posted over 70 entries, as well as several video posts on YouTube. Her blog (or “blob” as she called it) was inspired by her experience with documentary filmmaker Michael Rubbo who, in 2005, made a documentary about her titled All About Olive.

2. Pierre Jean “Buster” Martin (102-year-old): UK’s Oldest Employee and Marathon Runner

Claims to be the United Kingdom’s oldest employee at the age of 102. Buster Martin works for a well-known plumbing company in southeast London as a van cleaner, and notably refused to take a day off on the day he celebrated his 100th birthday. But he is also a marathon runner. After walking the 10 km (6 miles) distance of the Great Capital Run in 2 hours 22 minutes and the Roding Valley Half Marathon in 5 hours 13 minutes, Martin was entered for the 2008 London Marathon. According to press reports, he walked the 26 mile course in approximately 10 hours.

3. Arthur Winston (100-year-old): Worked for 72 years at the same company and only took one day off

(March 22, 1906 – April 13, 2006) Arthur Winston was a Los Angeles Metro employee for 72 years. He is best known for being honored as the “Employee of the Century” because he was never late to work and only took one day off during his entire career.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton awarded him with an “Employee of the Century” citation for his work ethic and dedication. He is the most reliable worker that the United States Department of Labor has ever chronicled. He worked for 72 years without ever being late, and only took a single day off work (in 1988 for the funeral of his wife Frances).

Winston died of heart failure in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles on April 13, 2006 at around 8:00 p.m., less than one month after his retirement.

He attributed his work ethic to his upbringing, asserting that his father taught him the value of hard work at an early age. Upon his retirement on his 100th birthday, he stated that he was planning to visit his 98-year-old brother in Tennessee and had the intention of remaining active in various endeavors. “I’m going to keep active. I can’t afford to just sit down. I wouldn’t do that,” he said. “I don’t drink and I don’t smoke, so I feel alright.”

4. The Great Omani : Ronald Cunningham (92-year-old): World’s Oldest Escapologist

(July 10, 1915 – October 15, 2007) The Great Omani, Ronald Cunningham who died in 2007 at the age of 92, was an escapologist and end-of the-pier artist specializing in feats such as eating light bulbs and removing a straitjacket while hanging upside down with his trousers on fire.

He worked in Bognor Regis performing tricks in a straitjacket chained and padlocked to the legs of the pier as the tide rose. On Brighton’s West Pier, The Great Omani was known for jumping though open flames into a bed of glass. In 1977 he marked the Queen’s Silver Jubilee by performing a handstand on the cliff edge of Beachy Head, with a Union Jack between his toes.

To impress audiences he put himself in great danger during many of his stunts using fire, water and glass at his local pub the Bedford Tavern in Brighton. It was here where he performed his last stunt in 2005. This was the escape out of handcuffs with both arms on fire with lighter fluid.

He died in Brighton, East Sussex after a whisky and a cigar at his home on the 15 October 2007. His last request was for a trapdoor in the hearse at his funeral. He wrote a short poem, which was read at the occasion:

“They lay the Great Omani in his box / They have done it up with nails not locks / But at his funeral do not despair / Chances are he won’t be there.”

5. Jennifer Figge (56-year-old): First Woman to Swim the Atlantic

Jennifer Figge was born on November 12, 1952. She is an American athlete from Davenport, Iowa. In early 2009 she swam several sections of the Atlantic Ocean from the Cape Verde Islands to Trinidad for, according to her manager, a total of an estimated 250 miles.[2] In a 24 day period she swam inside of a shark cage for up to 8 hours a day. She had planned to swim to the Bahamas, however she was blown off course.[3]

As several major media outlets initially erroneously reported she swam the entire distance across the ocean, the claim was challenged by several sources, as mathematically, Figge would have had to swim over 90 miles a day at about ten miles per hour – an absolute impossibility. In an interview with the Associated Press, Figge said she “never intended to swim the Atlantic.”

Jennifer Figge spent at least part of the 24 days in the water. Her manager David Higden stated “Nobody could swim across the Atlantic. It’s physically impossible … It would take literally years.”

I hope you were inspired by these amazing people. If you want someone to be included in the list. Leave a comment below and we’ll talk about it.