Man is world’s oldest plumber
After more than six decades of fixing pipes, installing air conditioning units and fitting boilers, Lorne Figley still has no plans to retire.
The 92-year-old owner and sole employee of Broadway Heating Ltd. in Saskatoon was recognized by Guinness World Records this month as the world’s oldest plumber.
“I know it so well that I don’t ever have to feel attacked by a problem. I’ve become a problem solver in the mechanical trades,” Figley said Sunday at a local legion where his friends and family gathered to honour his achievement.
Figley, who was born on a farm outside of Saskatoon, began his journey into the trades in the 1940s after having fought overseas in the Second World War. He took a sheet metal apprenticeship and later completed a journeyman certification in pipefitting, plumbing, refrigeration and air conditioning.
He opened Broadway Heating with four friends in the 1950s and the business, at its peak, expanded to have nine employees.
Figley, who typically goes out on one or two jobs a day, said he’s never bored by what he does because he’s always learning new things.
“I’m addicted to learning I guess so I’ve taken virtually hundreds of classes about things and I think that’s what keeps you going,” he said. “As long as you continue learning, especially if you’re meeting younger people all the time, you think you’re one of them.”
While Figley has watched the world change considerably, he said the art of plumbing has remained relatively unchanged.
“We’ve got electronics and instant communication and stuff like that, but the job is just the same as it was 100 years ago,” he said.
In honour of Figley’s accomplishment, Saskatchewan Polytechnic announced Sunday that it was creating a scholarship in his name. The award will be given annually to the journeyman student with the highest mark in his or her journeyman year.