If the smile on his face was any indication, Pat Wall certainly enjoyed his 100th birthday party.
Some 86 members of his family and friends gathered for a church service and supper on Sept. 4 in St. Andrew's to celebrate Mr. Wall's birthday.
The celebrations began with a special Mass at Precious Blood Church officiated by Father Ed Terry. Music was provided by Johnnie MacIsaac and Pauline MacDonald. A supper and dance followed at Mountain View Community Centre.
Most of the attendees were family members, some who travelled from St. John's, Ontario and as far away as Alberta to mark the occasion.
Born Edward Patrick Wall, Mr. Wall is known to his friends and family as Pat. He lives in his own house in Tompkins with support from family and homecare workers.
Mr. Wall is the third youngest and only surviving member of the 17 children of Tom and Agnes (nee Costello) Wall. He had a sister Mariah who also lived past 100. Tom Wall settled in the Codroy Valley after moving west with the building of the railroad.
Joining his father, Mr. Wall started working for the railway when he was only 13. He married Ita Hoskins of St. Alban's when they were both 26, during the depression of the 1930s.
The couple went on to have 13 children, 11 of which survived into adulthood. From oldest, their children are Bill (Doreen), Aggie (Tommy), Adena (Billy), George (Lilly), Gilbert, Pat (Marce), Pauline, Joseph (Rita), Tommy (Geraldine), Joyce (Kevin), and Ted (Lucy).
The couple lived in the Tompkins area until he moved to Codroy Pond as a section foreman in 1942. He was there for 11 years before moving to South Brook (now known as Pasadena), then onto Humber Mouth and back to Tompkins from where he retired just a few years before the railway closed.
Mr. Wall bought a homestead in Tompkins in the early 1930s, which he held onto throughout the many moves and where he still resides.
Over the years, Mr. Wall did some mixed farming to help support his family.
A strong believer in education, he ensured his older children were sent to boarding school so they could graduate - something that was unlikely at the small, one-room schoolhouse in the community where they lived at the time.
Son Bill Wall said that the cost for each child was the equivalent of about three-months' salary for his father. The boys were sent to a Catholic school in St. John's and the girls to St. George's.
Bill said his father placed a high value on education, even though he had none himself. He said his mother, a teacher, taught his father to read and write after they were married.
"He's a frail shell of a man today, but I close my eyes and I see a man that used to work 10 hours a day, and then come home and start household chores," said Bill. "And I never heard him grumble."
He said his father taught all his children perseverance through his own actions.
Mr. Wall also had a passion for salmon fishing, which he enjoyed throughout his life and still reminisces about today.
Bill said his father also still misses his mother who died in 1987; the couple had been married for 53 years.
Mr. Wall became confined to a wheel chair after an injury three years ago but his family says it has not reduced his enthusiasm for life. While he has good days and bad, Bill said he thinks his father has led a "charmed life."
At the party, letters of congratulations on his 100th birthday were read out from the Queen, Prime Minister, Governor General, Premier, Lieutenant General and MHA. The family extended thanks to all those who contributed to the evening.
editor@gulfnews.ca
Son Bill Wall and great-granddaughter Cassaundra comz posed the following song to pay tribute Pat Wall. Cassaundra sang it at the celebration.
The years of the thirties with turmoil and dread
The great world depression of which most of us read
He took on a wife, Ita, and a family with care
And toiled night and day in those times of despair
Chorus
He's a father, grandfather and a great grandfather too
He's learned though lessons, took some spills, but kept on trudging through
He is strong, smart, and reliable and sometimes funny too
He's loved by friends and family and may god Bless him too
For forty plus years on the railway did go
In all kinds of weather both sunshine and snow
To keep the rails level and alignment just straight
So the trains could travel with pasangers and freight.
Chorus
On the railway all day and with farming by night
He worked for eleven children with Ita, his pride and delight
A century has passed since his first baby cry
We salute you Pat Wall you are one special guy.
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