After dodging Japanese shells in Burma and witnessing the rise
and fall of 24 prime ministers, Britain's oldest man has died aged 110
years and 63 days, thanks, perhaps, to a mysterious brown elixir
administered decades ago by a Bombay doctor.
Reg Dean, who was born in Tunstall, Staffordshire, on 4 November 1902, inherited the mantle from Stanley Lucas, who died in 2010 aged 110.
The former United Reformed Church minister, who died on Saturday, attributed his longevity to a combination of laziness and the potion he was given by the physician in India. "He said, 'If you drink this you will live for ever' – and this is the result," he told the Derbyshire Times last year.
Asked by the BBC how he felt as he reached 110 – an event marked with a public concert – he replied: "A year older than when I was 109!"
He said all the fuss over his last birthday was "very kind", adding: "I did not expect it, and of course I shall have another one when I am 130."
Dean, who worked as a teacher and then a minister until he retired at 80, told the Derbyshire Times he though he would lose his life during the second world war. "I'm lucky to be here," he said. "When I was a chaplain in Burma I remember there was shell fire many times – I think they were trying to get me."
In 1958 he became a teacher at Herbert Strutt school in Belper, Derbyshire, where he worked for 10 years.
The father-of-one, from Wirksworth in Derbyshire, moved to the county in 1947, after living for a short period in Stratford-on-Avon.
His death was announced by the Dalesmen male voice choir, which he helped launch in the 1980s, and of which he was life president.
Dean had been living for some years at Waltham House, an extra care scheme for older people run by Housing 21.
Helen Hart, locality manager for Housing 21 said: "We are very sad to hear of the death of Reg Dean. He was an inspiration to us all and will be greatly missed."
Reg Dean, who was born in Tunstall, Staffordshire, on 4 November 1902, inherited the mantle from Stanley Lucas, who died in 2010 aged 110.
The former United Reformed Church minister, who died on Saturday, attributed his longevity to a combination of laziness and the potion he was given by the physician in India. "He said, 'If you drink this you will live for ever' – and this is the result," he told the Derbyshire Times last year.
Asked by the BBC how he felt as he reached 110 – an event marked with a public concert – he replied: "A year older than when I was 109!"
He said all the fuss over his last birthday was "very kind", adding: "I did not expect it, and of course I shall have another one when I am 130."
Dean, who worked as a teacher and then a minister until he retired at 80, told the Derbyshire Times he though he would lose his life during the second world war. "I'm lucky to be here," he said. "When I was a chaplain in Burma I remember there was shell fire many times – I think they were trying to get me."
In 1958 he became a teacher at Herbert Strutt school in Belper, Derbyshire, where he worked for 10 years.
The father-of-one, from Wirksworth in Derbyshire, moved to the county in 1947, after living for a short period in Stratford-on-Avon.
His death was announced by the Dalesmen male voice choir, which he helped launch in the 1980s, and of which he was life president.
Dean had been living for some years at Waltham House, an extra care scheme for older people run by Housing 21.
Helen Hart, locality manager for Housing 21 said: "We are very sad to hear of the death of Reg Dean. He was an inspiration to us all and will be greatly missed."
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