Britain’s oldest man dies at 110

Reg Dean, a former minister, died on Saturday in Wirksworth, near Chesterfield in Derbyshire at the Waltham House assisted living apartment where he had resided for the past seven years.

His son Christopher Dean said his father had only ever wanted “to make a difference” to the lives of people less fortunate than himself.

Mr Dean was heavily involved in charity work throughout his life and completed a sponsored walk from Nottingham to Derby at the age of 90.

Later, he set up a Fairtrade store in his downstairs lounge, when he still lived at home, calling the franchise Traidcraft - it became Traid Links and continues to successfully operate in Wirksworth to this day.

In the 1980s he set up the Dalesmen Male Voice Choir in Derbyshire, and in a joint celebration of their 25th anniversary and his 110th birthday and position as their life president last year, they donated a cheque to charity helping people in Africa in his honour.

Mr Dean’s son said his father had told him he had no fear at the prospect of his death.

“He told me he wasn’t at all scared,” he said.

“He said to me once ‘I am living under a sentence of death - but I intend to take a long time about it.’”

Born in the Potteries in Tunstall in Staffordshire on November 4, 1902, Mr Dean would live to witness 24 British prime ministers and survive two World Wars.

He served as an Army chaplain in Burma in the Far East in the Second World War, telling his son he remembered at one point being surrounded by the Japanese and taunted by them.

“They were saying ‘Johnny - we will come and kill you tomorrow’ and so he spent the evening in prayer.

“The next morning the Japanese had disappeared, they never knew where to.”

A man of God, he returned from the war and ministered in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, then in 1947 moved to Derbyshire where he was the minister for three churches, including the parish of Wirksworth.

In 1958 he became a teacher at Herbert Strutt School in Belper, Derbyshire, where he worked for 10 years.

He was also a founder member of the Derby Playhouse Theatre in the 1950s.

He was a minister with both the Church of England and later the United Reform Church, only retiring at the age of 80.

Mr Dean said faith had been a key part of his father’s life, and one of the principles he had always credited with his long life.

“He said ‘always look for the best in people, never do a task for reward or prize - always for the best intentions,’ he said.

“’Be a vegetarian and have a faith, of whatever religion, that you can trust and rely upon.’”

However, his son also said Mr Dean had always believed an “elixir” given to him in India may have played a hand in his longevity.

“A friend of my father’s said he would like to give him an elixir to drink, which he said would mean he would suffer no illness until he was over 100.

“It was foul-tasting, but of course he never thought not to drink it - he just did.

“The only real illness my father then had was the infection last year, which left him bed-ridden and which eventually got him.”

He became Britain’s oldest man in June 2010 after the death of Stanley Lucas, aged 110, of Cornwall.

As well as his charity work, Mr Dean enjoyed painting, and also had a keen wit as his son recalled.

“I remember I was by his bed and he had his eyes closed, and the nurses came in and said to him ‘are you all right?’, and my father’s eyes opened and he shouted ‘yes, I’m fine’.”

His son also remembered a journalist asking his father about the secret of his 110 years, to which he replied “don’t blame me, it’s not my fault.”

“He was there mentally, and enjoyed having a bit of fun.

“He was always concerned that he was working for others, and said he only hoped that he had left this earth in a slightly better place than when he had arrived.”

Mr Dean passed away peacefully with friends at his bedside, his son said.

Helen Hart, Locality Manager for Housing 21 which runs Waltham House, said: “We are very sad to hear of the death of Reg Dean.

“He was an inspiration to us all and will be greatly missed.”

Mr Dean is survived, from his second marriage to wife Yvonne, by his son 62-year-old Christopher, band leader with the Syd Lawrence Orchestra, and grandsons Matthew Dean, 27, and Oliver Dean, six.