Bert Cook celebrated his 97th birthday on April 4.
He is the latest nonagenarian resident at St George’s Village in Bedfordview and has been a resident for close to 30 years. He doesn’t regret moving to St George’s Village and sees this as one of the best moves he has made.
Bert celebrated his birthday with family, including his son Eric Cook and daughter Lynette Weinstein. His second family, his valued friends at the village, also joined in the celebrations. Bert said his birthday celebrations lasted over a week.
As a child, Bert attended Selborne College in East London. After school, he enjoyed a career in banking before he served in the Second World War. After his return from the war, he went back to banking and worked for Standard Bank for 45 years.
“I am most proud of my leadership values, which came to the fore when I was the leader of a prisoner of war camp during the Second World War,” said Bert.
Bert has also written a short book about his experiences of being a prisoner of war for five years.
The motto Bert has always lived by is to never lose your sense of humour.
“Cook is such an interesting man who we have gotten to know over the past eight years,” said Joan Manning, Bert’s next door neighbour.
