Good wife equals long life, says 103-year-old
Lloyd Burgoyne has a little secret to staying young: “don’t drink, don’t smoke, and marry once.”
It’s a secret he’s lived by all of his life, and at 103 years of age, it’s clearly working for him.
Born Oct. 5, 1915, in Valemount, B.C., Burgoyne moved to Kamloops with his mother and five brothers in order to attend high school. He ended up staying in Kamloops the majority of his life where he worked first at a sawmill in the office, and then for the city for 26 years.
Undoubtedly Burgoyne has seen a lot in his lifetime from world wars to the advancement of technology, but out of the 103, there’s one year that remains his favourite.
“My favourite year is the year I got married,” he said without hesitation on Thursday.
He married his wife, Grace, in 1946 — three years after they first met at church. She died at 86.
“My wife was a wonderful Christian woman . . . always the Queen’s English — she never cursed or swore,” he recalled. They had two sons together. Burgoyne resides in Penticton now to be closer to his family, which consists of four generations including himself.
He has two brothers still alive, Dale and Frank, and his third brother, Ben, passed away at 101 just three weeks ago.
Burgoyne remains in good health and attends exercise classes at his residence, Charles Manor, three or four times a week.
Although he humbly disagrees, his memory for dates and events throughout his life was excellent as he told stories with great humour.
His advice to the younger generation? The same as his secret to life: “don’t drink, don’t smoke, and marry once.”
But if you are going to drink, he says, “drink wine or whisky with food.”