CENTENARIAN Harold Cox may look a year or two older but he actually celebrated only his 25th birthday this week.
That’s because Harold was born in a leap year on February 29th, 1912.
The 100-year-old celebrated his special day with friends and family at Avery Lodge Car Home in Grantham on Wednesday, where fellow residents sung happy birthday while he was presented with a special cake.
Helen Brown, recreation and leisure co-ordinator at Avery Lodge, said: “He’s very popular here and is a real old-fashioned gentleman.
“He’s a lovely man but usually doesn’t like too much fuss being made about him!”
Harold and his wife, were the first people to enter the Grantham care home when it opened in 2009. He is also the first resident of the home to celebrate his 100th birthday since it opened.
His son David Cox said: “He is a very straight man and a good family man.
“Hi is a really hard-working man too. I’m surprised he has made it this long without wearing himself out!”
Harold, who received a special birthday card from the Queen this week, was originally from the Mansfield area and left school at 14 to become a butcher.
He then served in the RAF during the Second World War on aircraft salvaging duties before becoming a farmer and settling in Claypole in the mid 1940s.
He was a member of the parish council and he and his wife Addie were heavily involved in village events before they both entered Avery Lodge. Addie died in 2010.
Harold is a father of five, grandfather of 12, great-grandfather of 17 and great-great-grandfather of two.
l Watch a video of Harold’s birthday celebrations at www.granthamjournal.co.uk/video