“Johnny Walker” turns 103, still reads without spectacles

John Rudder, called “Johnny Walker” of Islington, East Bank Berbice (EBB), celebrated his 103rd birthday on Saturday.
Rudder was born on 12th July 1922. He grew up at Kortbradt and other villages on the EBB where he attended the Friends Primary School.
His first wife, Kulsum, passed away 68 years ago. She died in childbirth. The couple had six children. Three of those children have since passed away.
Within three years after his first wife’s death, Rudder was up for grabs again, and he said it was the aunt of his now-wife, who set things up for him.
Rudder and Margaret are still together today and have four children. She is 95 years old. At 103, Walker can still read but has difficulty hearing.

“She was a very nice partner. That girl was an East Indian and she would help me by cutting the cane. She assists me to court and I do the fetching. My parents were poor, and we had to work to help them. I had to work because they were poor. As a young man, I had a terrible time. My old lady used to cut cane, but she got old, and I had to stop her. I had a terrible time. Nevertheless, I was a young man I had my full strength, so that didn’t bother me too much,” he told this publication.
Walker said he started working as a cane harvester even before he became a teenager. His first wife was also employed on the cane plantation.
Walker says his father, who was a Pastor, had set rules which ensured that he was home before 20:00h.
One of the things he had to do was, to read his bible and at 103 Walker still reads and does not need glasses.
Reading a verse from the Bible Rudder stumbled a bit on the second sentence and after a brief pause admitted that his eyes or not as bright as they used to be before he continued reading. Johnny Walker does not use alcohol and is not selective about the food he eats.
He believes that parents have a role to play in instilling proper values in their children which will be able to guide them as they go through life.