100 happy returns to Jack!
Old School Court resident Jack Bare has celebrated his 100th birthday with a card from the Queen and a party attended by four generations of his family
Joining Jack and his wife Joan at their Wheaton Aston home were daughter Gill, granddaughter Caroline and great grandchildren Isabelle and Reuben. Jack was able to talk to his other granddaughter, Jane, at her home in Hong Kong using Skype.
Exercise and adventure might be the secrets of Jack’s long life. A champion swimmer and water polo player in his teens, Jack met Joan when they joined a local cycling club on the same night. The couple thought nothing of riding 100 miles at a time on their tandem and were frequent swimmers into their retirement.
Based in Italy during World War II, Jack and Joan became regular travellers, enjoying holidays in France, Spain and Portugal. In their early married life Jack and Joan used to drive to Italy, staying as guests in convents after Joan had taught Italian nuns to learn English.
His engineering skills meant that he was asked to work on Bluebird, the craft Donald Campbell would use to make his attempt on the water speed record. Jack was often at Coniston for the trials of Bluebird though he was not present at its crash.
Jack and Joan have spent 12 happy years at Old School Court, marking amazing milestones including their 77th wedding anniversary and 90th birthdays.