Paulsgrove action man marks 100th birthday with special visit from editor of The News

Last Thursday, John William Dixon, known as Jack to friends and family, turned 100 at his home in Paulsgrove surrounded by his daughter, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and an appearance from the Lord Mayor plus the editor of The News, Mark Waldron.

With a grand total of two children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, Jack is doing a fantastic job of giving them all a run for their money with his daring antics and zest for life.

At 100 years young, he has raised thousands of pounds for local charities.

He has and taken part in everything from plane rides over Southsea, abseiling down The Spinnaker Tower at the age of 91, and making a 13,000ft skydive in his 80s, as well as 20 years line dancing experience under his belt.

‘You name it, I’ve done it,’ laughs Jack.

When he reached the bottom of the Spinnaker following his charity abseil, Jack says the instructor pointed out to him a nasty cut on his arm.

‘I told him – I’m line dancing this afternoon so I’ll have to recover by then!’

Jack’s daughter Patricia Mackenzie, 71, who describes her dad as a ‘truly remarkable man’ says she is ‘100 per cent certain’ that he is the oldest and most frequent purchaser and reader of The News.

‘He has never had the paper delivered.

‘He prefers to make the fairly short walk to the local shop himself - he says the exercise is good for him,’ says Patricia.

When editor of The News Mark heard this, he decided to hand-deliver Jack’s special birthday edition of the paper.

Mark said; ‘I thought the least I could do was save him the journey on his special day and deliver the paper myself, along with a cake and a card from the news team.

‘It was such a pleasure to meet him and hear about his long and incredibly active life.’

Jack worked in a butchers shop at 12 and left school at 14.

He moved to Portsmouth from Radnorshire, Wales, during the Second World War when he joined the army.

Not long after, he met his wife Eileen, who he nicknamed Eve, in Cosham after offering to walk her home one day.

They were married in 1943 and had the ‘most wonderful’ memories together, says Jack.

‘She was a lovely dancer, we used to dance down on South Parade,’ says Jack.

Jack and Eve had 56 joyful years together before she died aged 76.

Jack struggled with his loss enormously eventually finding some comfort in his passion for line dancing.

‘I was at the end of my tether... but the line dancing has been great for me.’

SEE ALSO: Gosport's Jack Ruler celebrates 105th birthday after recovering from Covid-19

In the run-up to Jack’s skydive, in which he raised £1,100 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a local charity committed to eradicating type 1 diabetes, he says incredulous doctors could not believe their ears when he told them what he was planning.

‘Are you joking?’ Jack says they asked him, concerned.’

‘People say to me "you always laugh and jest”.

‘I say ‘well what’s the point in crying, there’s always people worse off than yourself,’ adds Jack.

Jack says his advice to his younger self would be to ‘keep going, don’t be afraid to take part’.

‘If someone wants you to try something, do it!’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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