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Bill Mitchell
Bill Mitchell
Mitchell on his 108th birthday in 2021
Birth: 10 April 1913
Southland, New Zealand
Death: 8 November 2021
Canterbury, New Zealand
Age: 108 years, 212 days
Country: New ZealandNZL
Centenarian

Bill Mitchell (10 April 1913 – 8 November 2021) was a New Zealand centenarian who was the oldest known living man in New Zealand and the oldest known living person born in New Zealand at the time of his death. He also was the second-oldest known living person in New Zealand, after Joan Brennan.

Biography[]

Bill Mitchell was born in Southland, New Zealand on 10 April 1913. Mitchell moved to Christchurch in his early teens and worked as an apprentice as a metalworker.

Mitchell served in the air force's engineering service in the Pacific during the World War II. He joined the air force on 9 September 1939, and was discharged exactly six years later.

Mitchell married in September 1947 and had three children (including Helen Nicholson and Linda Callaghan). The couple started a grocery shop on Nursery Rd, followed by three more. He spent about 10 years driving a taxi until he retired.

His wife died in 2009. Mitchell turned 100 in April 2013 and stopped driving at the age of 106 due to decreasing mobility in his hip and leg. However, six months later, he was driving a V8 super car at Christchurch’s Ruapuna Raceway.

In September 2019, when he was 106, he was met by then-108-year-old Ronald Hermanns (25 September 1911 – 30 August 2021) who was also believed to be New Zealand's oldest living man (and person).

In June 2021 at the age of 108, he received his first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, making him one of oldest people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Following the death of Ronald Hermanns on 30 August 2021, he became the oldest known living man in New Zealand and the oldest Second World War New Zealand veteran.

Mitchell died in Palm Grove Rest Home in Canterbury, New Zealand on 8 November 2021, at the age of 108 years, 212 days. At the time of his death, he had four grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren.

Gallery[]

References[]


New Zealand's Oldest Living Man Titleholders (VE)

Christopher Murray • Alexander Hughes • Maxwell Wallenstein • Wesley Firth • Frederick Fox • David Orange • Thomas SalmonAllan WatkinsEdward Leigh • Arthur Bates • William Swensson • Charles Campbell • Hubert HardenWilliam Hayes • James Hill • Lawrence Blyth • Bright Williams • Cecil HamiltonErnest Ryland • Trevor Henry • Harold Clark • Dudley Sainsbury • Taiwung Yu Hoi • Harry Andrews • Ian ChirnsideBob EdwardsHoward BussRonald HermannsBill MitchellLaurence ReynoldsJack CoeJames Easton

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