Drive-by marks 100th birthday of EX-RCMP officer
Dozens celebrate former Mountie, who has `had a really great life'
Retired Sgt. Art Levin looked on from his fourth-floor balcony as dozens of friends, family and members of the RCMP Veterans Association lined Seton Boulevard S.E. on Saturday afternoon, honking, carrying signs and waving Canadian flags to wish him a happy 100th birthday.
Though Levin couldn't come down to the lobby of the Auburn Heights Seniors Residence he calls home, a smile could be seen on the centenarian's face as a bagpiper, Mary Ann Houston with the Calgary Fire Department, played and well-wishers drove by.
Levin joined the RCMP on July 1, 1941. He served in Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba, Ontario and Newfoundland before retiring from the service in 1967.
Levin and his wife, Marion, then moved to Vancouver, where he took a post in the federal government's manpower and immigration department, serving in that role from 1967 to 1985. Shortly after arriving in Vancouver, Levin joined the local chapter of the RCMPVA and served as treasurer from 1988 to 1997.
The couple moved to Calgary in 1998, where Levin joined the local chapter of the RCMPVA — an active member who spent much of his time volunteering and attending functions at Fort Calgary. Marion died in 1999.
At the age of 80, Levin met Norma. The two travelled the world together, going on “every cruise they could,” said Levin's niece, Linda Guton.
“He had a really great life. ... He was very fortunate he had a partner that he loved to travel with,” she said.
Guton said Levin was a quiet man, especially when it came to talking about his career, but he did tell stories about his time in Cambridge Bay, N.W.T.
“I think the best memories we have with Art is when he travelled to the Arctic on the river. ... It took him six months to get there, then he stayed there for five years,” she said, adding he had nothing but great things to say about the people he met, although it certainly wasn't an easy period in his life.
“He loved his life. It was very fulfilling to him and to this day he doesn't have any regrets in terms of how his life fell into place,” she said.
Guton said during a time of such negativity, she hopes the celebration for her uncle will bring some “insight and positivity” into the world.