ONE of Britain’s most extraordinary centenarians, The Bourne pensioner Bernard Butler, has died just weeks short of his 107th birthday.

Mr Butler, who The Herald interviewed on the occasion of his 100th birthday in February 2011, passed away aged 106 years and 11 months on January 10.

Born in 1911 in the north of England, Mr Butler told The Herald in 2011 he was “proud” to have grown up in a large working class family with his five sisters and two brothers.

Marrying “the only girl of my whole life”, Doris, at the age of 18, he found a career in civil engineering through his brother-in-law, taking him all the way to retirement in 1976.

As a child during the First World War he recalls seeing a German Zeppelin fly over his home town, and as highways and works manager for the London Borough of Holborn from 1936 to 1947 he was responsible for ensuring the safety of unexploded bombs during the Blitz.

“I’m very lucky in that I have the odd aches and pains, but other than that my health and mind keep me very active,” he said.

“I enjoy life and do things as I want to do them. I like washing and ironing, and often do odd jobs around the house.

“I put a lot down to my mother. She always told me ‘if you want something, you’ll appreciate it more if you earn it’, and I’ve lived by that ever since."

Very much a family man, Mr Butler and Doris, who sadly died of cancer two years after their golden wedding anniversary in 1988, had three sons together, as well as five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

He celebrated his 100th birthday with close family at Langrish House near Petersfield, and despite entering his second century, continued to live independently on his own, tending to his garden and completing three crosswords a day.

Aged 99, he even renewed his driving licence and passport, and told The Herald he still harboured plans to go on a cruise.