Born When?

It has got to be the first obituary headline I've ever seen in the New York Times where the deceased's age is not given. Why is this? Because it just can't be confirmed, but the deceased is believed to be over 100, and I guess the editors thought better of a headline...Possible Centenarian, not wanting to admit to suspicion, or, as might be said, "throwing shade on his achievements." 

Whatever the headline lacks, Fauja Singh, Who Lived a Marathon And Set an Age Record in One, is nevertheless no longer with us, as the print edition tells us.

Mr. Singh gave his date of birth as April 1, 1911, which easily makes him over 100 years old. But there are no reliable records from where he was born, Beas Pind, in the Punjab region of India, which at the time was under British rule. His parents were farmers. He started running to overcome the depressing feelings he had over the death of his wife and a daughter who died in childbirth, and a son who died in a freak accident during a storm.

I can understand unknown birth dates. My grandfather's brother Peter came to this country from Greece in 1912 when the Ellis Island records say he was 18, (but was he?) accompanied by my grandfather, who was already in the country. My grandfather had gone back to Greece to bring his younger brother over to join him in what was then the family business of a shoe shine parlor and blocking hats at St. Mark's Place in Manhattan, that later morphed into the flower business on East 18th Street.

If you're considered to be 18 in 1912, then I guess you're birth year is 1894. This made my bachelor great-uncle 47 in 1941 when the United States entered WW II.

The armed forces needed manpower, and even a 47 year-old bachelor got drafted. My uncle spent his years in the Army in Kentucky assigned to the Quartermaster Corps. At that age, basic training must have been an adventure. I'm sure he was in the shape of his life. His discharge papers said his character was "excellent." I was always proud of him.

On October 13, 2011 at a track meet in Toronto, Fauja Singh set eight world records for the 95-plus age group, winning at distances from 100 meters to 5,000 meters.

As a Sikh he wore the required turban, and became known as the "Turbaned Tornado." This moniker could easily have been used if he segued into professional wrestling, which he didn't.

After his performance in Toronto, he followed it up three days later by completing the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 8 hours 25 minutes and 16 seconds. He was judged to be the first "reputed centenarian" to complete a marathon.

He did receive assistance getting across the marathon finish line, and despite having a passport, he could not produce a birth certificate, something a remote village in India in 1911 neglected to provide. World records were not officially recognized, but still no one near whatever his  age was ahead of him. Unlike counting rings on a tree, human age cannot be independently ascertained. Carbon dating bones while you're alive might be out?

He completed his first marathon in London in 2000 in 6 hours 54 minutes. He followed up with marathons in New York, Toronto and Frankfurt. He appeared in an advertising campaign by Adidas.

By 2016 his marathon days were over. A children's book was written about him, with a forward from Mr. Singh.

As you might expect, actuaries are very sensitive to age. When are you truly eligible for a pension, or a certain premium on your life insurance for example.

The British government did grant him a pension, but the obit does not say when they did or at what age Mr. Singh was recognized as qualifying for one. 

No doubt however about getting his pension. Queen Elizabeth sent him a congratulatory telegram on his 100th birthday.

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