John ‘Johnny Walker’ Rudder turns 102; reveals secret to long life

Born on July 12, 1922, John Walker Rudder, commonly known as Johnny Walker, celebrated his 102nd birth anniversary on Friday.
Raised in the East Bank Berbice villages of Kortberaadt and Mara, where he spent his early years, Walker began his education at Kortberaadt English School, and later moved to Friends Primary School, EBB, where he completed his schooling. Later, he moved to Islington, East Bank Berbice, and worked for most of his life as a sugarcane harvester (cane cutter).
Johnny Walker found love with his first wife, Kulsum Rudder. The couple shared a life until her passing at age 69, and the union produced five children. Rudder later remarried, and his current wife is 95 years old. They have produced four children.
Johnny Walker says being 102 is special. “Where I am, I don’t feel that where I am I should feel so. When I think of my age, I question myself, ‘What! 100 years?’ I didn’t believe it, because my feelings are not all that bad, because I can run; I can get up from here and run on the road. I am sure that a man my age can’t even get up, but praise be to God,” Rudder said during a birthday interview.

The centenarian’s youngest child is 58 and his oldest is 81. He has 48 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren and numerous great-great-grandchildren.
He provided this publication with the secret to a long life. “The secret is a blessing from God. If you obey His laws, you will live the life that we expected to live to whatever the Lord says. If you live the life according to the Lord, you will live 100 and over,” he disclosed.
Rudder also spoke about what he has been eating, and advised that others should practise those same eating habits. “When it comes in the line of food, I eat anything!”
Apart from a slight difficulty in hearing, Walker has no known ailment, and even helps with chores around the home. He pointed out that he would not pick up a shovel or fork in the garden, but uses the cutlass to weed.
“What I am able to do I will do: sweep, or do anything in the home, or even in the backdam. If I go, I can weed. On a daily basis,(I do) anything that I feel to do. If my wife has plenty work to do, I help her to do it. If they have something to lift and they want a hand, I give them a hand. Whatever it is, once I feel that I can do it, I will do it,” he expressed.
Rudder had seven of his nine children who are alive share the special day with him on Friday. And Region Six Chairman David Armogan, who visited him, expressed birthday wishes on behalf of the Regional Democratic Council.