Bexley's Derek Pallant turns 100 (From News Shopper)

Bexley's Derek Pallant turns 100

11:05am Wednesday 12th September 2012 in News By Tim MacFarlan, Bexley and north Kent reporter

A BEXLEY man's 100th birthday continued his family's amazing longevity.

The youngest of four, all Derek Pallant's siblings lived to grand old ages with his elder sister reaching 102, her sister 98 and Mr Pallant's brother 96.

Daughter Dawn Fraser, 71, attributes it to their upbringing on a small holding near the village of Bean around three miles outside Dartford.

Mrs Fraser said: "They think it was that which set them up for life.

"They had vegetables, bees for honey, chickens, ducks and geese.

"It was like the Good Life."

Her father married Doris Caller in 1939 just three weeks before the Second World War broke out and the couple moved into a bungalow in Bexleyheath where Mr Pallant stayed until moving into the Adeleide Care Home 18 months ago.

He made armaments during the war and later worked in a small brewery in Bexley Village and as a precision engineer making submarine cables.

His wife of 51 years passed away on New Year's Eve 1990.

Mr Pallant has two children, five grandchildren and one great grandson.

There was a small celebration for him at his Bexleyheath care home on Tuesday.