AT 110, ‘I’M JUST OLD’
Retired dentist gets a birthday card from Queen Elizabeth and Habs goalie Price
Robert Wiener, possibly the oldest man alive in Canada, talks about the two holes-inone he had during his golfing career. He credits his longevity to simple science: ‘I just inherited good genes from my parents. It’s that simple,’ he tells Christopher Curtis
Robert Wiener doesn’t see what all the fuss is about. Sure, he turned 110 years old last month, possibly making him the oldest man in Canada. And the honour did earn him a birthday card from Queen Elizabeth herself. But Wiener dismissed the accolades with a wave of his hand Monday. “It’s not like I won the Nobel Prize or saved someone’s life. I’m just old,” said Wiener, a retired dentist and former McGill University professor. “I just inherited good genes from my parents. It’s that simple.” Wiener’s mind is still sharp. He’ll recount his childhood in Outremont down to the finest detail — the way cars along Mont-Royal Ave. would be replaced by horse-drawn sleds in the winter or the way children swarmed the icy streets and turned them into a hockey rink. He can even remember what he was wearing the day he began courting his future wife Ella by a lake in the Laurentians. “I wore my McGill University sweater,” he said. “I had to look respectable.” Still, the decades are beginning to take their toll on Wiener; his muscles spasm, his skin bruises more easily and his hearing is getting worse. He’ll frequently stop someone mid conversation and, with a smile, ask them to slow down and speak louder. “These hearing aids are supposed to be the best,” he’ll say. “I’m not so sure about that. I can hear your voice but sometimes I can’t make out the words.” Even so, Wiener has largely remained independent in his old age. He exercises almost an hour every day, and enlisted the help of a caregiver only last year. “He’s very impressive; he does squats, uses the (stationary) bicycle for 30 minutes a day, lifts small weights,” said Roberto Yaptangco, Wiener’s caregiver. “Now he’s a bit of a star; Global TV came to see him last week, tomorrow it’s CTV News.” Though he’ll mostly pass off his toughness on genetics — Wiener’s oldest brother David lived to the age of 109 — Wiener’s friends and family say he has an indomitable spirit. He’s kind, charming and likes to poke fun at himself. His only complaint during a 30-minute interview with the Montreal Gazette was on the state of modern hockey. Wiener was born the same year the Montreal Canadiens were inaugurated and he says the game, these days, is too easy. “There’s too many teams, they took all the players from the minor leagues and had to make the game easier for them,” said Wiener, who grew up playing goalie on the streets and laneways of Outremont. “There’s no more Jean Beliveaus or Guy Lafleurs. I can’t watch it anymore.” This may be unwelcome news to Habs goalie Carey Price, who sent Wiener a birthday card last month. In his younger days, Wiener tended goal for Queen’s University while studying dentistry. He went on to graduate from McGill University in 1936, got a master’s degree in science pathology from the University of Chicago in 1945 and went on to found the first dentistry clinic at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. Of all the memories and accomplishments though, he said none compare to the life he lived with Ella. They married in 1937 while she was at McGill and he was in Chicago. “We couldn’t be apart,” he said. “So she came to Chicago to finish her degree. We both wound up working (at the university). We would walk to work together in the morning. Those were some of the best years of our lives. “She was an incredible woman.” Ella died seven years ago. Wiener said the shock of her death has never worn off. Toward the end of his interview with the Gazette, Wiener politely steered the conversation to his three children, his three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He reached for picture frames and listed through the awards and diplomas they earned over the years. As his visitors prepared to leave, he shook his head and ran a hand through his mane of slick white hair. “I still don’t get it,” he said. “I’m just lucky to have good genes. I didn’t do anything, I didn’t win anything, I’m just older than I used to be.”