Having his cake and eating it ...with a cola no doubt. Alfred Parent celebrates his 100th birthday. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

By Ian Gustafson

Centennial Birthday

Local man celebrates 100 years

Sep 2, 2019 | 2:00 PM

Alfred Parent celebrated his 100^th birthday on Sept 1, a couple days early from his actual birth date of Sept. 3, surrounded by family and friends.

Parent, who is unable to get around without his walker, said he feels pretty good for his years. On Sept. 3, 1919 he was born on a farm near Hoey south of Prince Albert. He lived on the farm until 10 years ago when he moved into Prince Albert.

When asked to pass on some tips on how to live a long life he offered an unexpected piece of dietary advice. He has drunk two Pepsi or Coke a day for his whole life, moving to the diet version of the popular soda beverage in later years for health reasons.

“People think I joke about it,” he told paNOW. ” Since I was 14 years old, I’ve drank that stuff all my life,” he laughed. “I won’t say anything because I’m not very healthy.The only time I drank (alcohol) was in the army but after that I quit completely.”

Parent has lived through some of the world’s biggest events, but he said World War II was the worst, where he served five years in the army. After that stint he moved back home to work on the farm.

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Parent is a father of nine children and has 26 grandchildren, and 37 great grandchildren. He was married for 71 years to Cecile Parent who passed away a year and a half ago.

He recalls meeting his wife by mistake just outside the Hoey Bar. Parent thought he was talking to Cecile’s sister whom he’d met previously as they looked very similar. After talking to her for a while he realized it wasn’t the same woman. But Alfred offered to drive her home anyway and they started dating after that.

“After a while I said ‘do you want to go home?’ And she said ‘yeah’ so we walked to my place, got in the car and took her home,” Parent said.

Alaisha Gaudet, one of Parent’s 26 grandchildren now lives with him in Prince Albert, and said they have a close relationship.

“He’s really friendly, he likes to think he comes across as a really tough man and he was when he was in the war and when he was raising his kids but now, he is just very soft-hearted,” she said.

Gaudet said her grandfather still likes to go to the casino, go for drives, and when he and his wife were younger, they would go on trips together to Las Vegas and Arizona.

She said he will get worked up when he’s watching sports such as the Blue Jays or the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“He gets really mad when the Blue Jays lose as well as the Roughriders, he’ll yell at the TV but he’s very kind-hearted,” Gaudet said. “When I come home from work, I’ll ask ‘how was you day?’ he’ll say, ‘it was a good day’ but if he went to the casino and lost he’ll say ‘it was a poor day.’”

Despite his advanced years Gaudet said Alfred was very independent.

“He doesn’t really have any care but I’m there to make him supper and breakfast in the morning and I’m just there in the evening to be around,” she added.

“I grew up going to see him and my grandma every Sunday and then when I finished university, I moved in with him after my grandma passed away,” she said.

“It’s been about a year now and it’s still going good,” she added.

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ian.gustafson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @iangustafson12