Reuben Sinclair | |
Sinclair (aged 110) on 10 November 2022 | |
Birth: | 5 December 1911 Saskatchewan, Canada |
Death: | 27 August 2023 Richmond, British Columbia, Canada |
Age: | 111 years, 265 days |
Country: | CAN |
Validated |
Reuben "Rube" Sinclair (5 December 1911 – 27 August 2023) was a Canadian supercentenarian who was the oldest known living man in Canada and the oldest living World War II veteran in the world at the time of his death. His age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Reuben Sinclair was born on his family farm near Lipton, Saskatchewan, Canada. His birth certificate was registered on 5 December 1911, but according to his older brothers, he was born in the summer of 1911.
His parents were Yitzok Sinclair (né Sandler) and Fraida (née Dubrovinsky) Sinclair. He had four siblings: Samuel, Sol, Clara, and Joe. His parents and his oldest siblings Samuel, and Saul was born in Ukraine and moved in the 1900s to Saskatchewan, where they was given land by de Hirsch’s Jewish Colonization Association.
Sinclair joined the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War and was stationed in North North Battleford, Saskatchewan. His youngest brother Joe served in the army and after the war joined Rube in British Columbia. They started Sinclair Bros. Garage and Auto Wrecking, in Richmond, just across the two old Fraser Street bridges from Vancouver.
Later Life, Longevity Records, and Death[]
Sinclair married a woman named Ida and had three children: Nadine Lipetz, Karen, and Len. In 1964, he moved with his family to Southern California. In 1994, his wife Ida suffered a stroke and the couple moved back to British Columbia. She died in 1996.
In March 2021, at the age of 109, he received his his COVID-19 vaccine, making him one of the oldest known people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
He became the oldest known living Canadian veteran of the Second World War, following the death of 109-year-old Tom Lumby on 19 June 2021. He later became the oldest known living man born in Canada, following the death of 110-year-old Arnold Hawkins on 18 September 2021.
As of November 2021, he had three living children, six grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild. A second great-great-grandchild is on the way.
He became the oldest known living man in Canada, following the death of 111-year-old Ja Hyung Lee on 12 February 2022.
He became the oldest known living veteran of the Second World War, following the death of 111-year-old Ezra Hill on 4 October 2022.
Reuben Sinclair died in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada on 27 August 2023 at the age of 111 years, 265 days. At the time of his death, he was the second-oldest known living person in British Columbia, behind Mabel Mah. Following his death, then-108-year-old Albert Middleton became the oldest living man in Canada, then-107-year-old Ted Price became the oldest known living Canadian-born man, and then 111-year-old Andre Ludwig of France, became the oldest living world war II veteran in the world. He was also the last known surviving Canadian man born before 1914.
Gallery[]
References[]
- 2023 validations Gerontology Research Group
- Coffee with: Turning 104, with no worries Richmond News, 22 December 2015
- A long life working, helping others Jewish Independent, 15 January 2021
- Veterans and COVID-19 vaccines Ellin Bessner, 17 March 2021
- Sinclair, Reuben Crestwood, October 2021
- Oldest living veteran in Canada honoured at 110 years old CBC, 11 November 2021
- “I felt it was my duty” Legion Magazine, 11 January 2022
- Canada's oldest veteran honoured YouTube, 10 November 2022
- Aged 111 Facebook, 15 December 2022
- Canada’s oldest Second World War veteran laid to rest in British Columbia Global News Canada, 29 August 2023
- Funeral held for 111-year-old Reuben Sinclair, Canada's oldest known veteran CTV News, 30 August 2023
- Reuben “Rube” Sinclair Find A Grave
- Obituary: Reuben Sinclair The Canadian Jewish News, 01 September 2023
Canada's Oldest Living Man Titleholders (V • E) |
Joseph Saint-Amour • Unknown • Eli Lindsay • Stuart Bott • Unknown • Adam McDonald • Arthur Critchfield • Adalbert Marchand • Herman Smith-Johannsen • William Hargest • Philo McCandless • George Ives • Chester Pushie • Arthur Nash • Tokusuke Oyakawa • Gustav Wikberg • Theodore Remfert • James Grant • Romeo Tremblay • Raphael Cree • John Gard • Montague Little • Lazare Gionet • Nicholas Salamis • Harold Dunichand • Ernest MacPherson • William Thomas • Leon Robitaille • Johannes Markusson • David Wiener • Sam Baker • Joseph Ernest Poupart • Zoltan Sarosy • Robert Wiener • Ja Hyung Lee • Reuben Sinclair • Albert Middleton |