Moderators PowerButchi Posted April 16, 2011 Moderators Share Posted April 16, 2011 On the 13th of this month Buster Martin passed away at the age of 104.  This is his wiki entry  Buster Martin From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Buster Martin Born 1 September 1906 (disputed) France Died 13 April 2011 London Occupation Van cleaner, Columnist (FHM) Known for Oldest employee in the United Kingdom Pierre Jean "Buster" Martin (1 September 1906? [1]- 13 April 2011) claimed to be the United Kingdom's oldest employee, stating that he was born in 1906.[2] Until his death, Martin worked for Pimlico Plumbers, a well-known plumbing company in southeast London as a van cleaner, and notably refused to take a day off on the day he celebrated what he claimed was his 100th birthday.[3] He also received coverage in the media for fending off an attack from a group of youths in 2007;[4][5] his heroics were cited by the former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell as "living proof of why people should not be written off once they pass retirement age". Martin stated that he would not retire from working.[6][7] Doubts have been raised about all of Martin's historical claims, including his age, which may have been "only" 97 at the time of his death.[8][9] Contents [hide] 1 Biography 2 The Zimmers 3 London Marathon 2008 4 References 5 External links [edit]Biography  In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Martin claimed to have been born "up in the hills of the Basque Country" in France. He stated that his mother fell pregnant to a member of the affluent family she served, and he and his mother were smuggled to Britain to avoid the disgrace. His mother was put in a convent and he was placed in an orphanage near Bodmin in Cornwall,[10] run by the Sisters of Mercy, when he was three months old.[7] Martin says that he picked up his nickname "Buster" at age three for "whacking a priest on the nose".[11] He travelled to London, and found work running errands for stallholders in the Brixton market, the beginning of nearly 90 years of work.[4] He reputedly met his future wife, Iriana, a native of Tonbridge, Kent, at the age of 13 (she was 12). They married a year later in France.[dubious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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