AT 96, he has certainly run the good race.  Tested and tried, he has demonstrated his mettle as an educator and father of substance who’s stamped his indelible mark, not only on the minds of family members and those in the communities in which he has lived, but through positive interaction with those whose lives he’s touched in diverse ways.

And now, the retired educator, Edgar Burchell Jordan,  who on Wednesday turned a proud 96, looks forward with confidence to the day when he would take his privileged seat in the gallery of centenarians. 

Edgar was born on October 12, 1915 at Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo, where he lived with his parents, Thomas Richards-Jordan and Nellie Victoria Jordan, and siblings (including the late Walter Jordan, educator and author of the Kaieteur News’ column, ‘Watch your Language’).

Having benefited from the best of what ‘country life’ had to offer (a good education, good moral values, good family life, good food (including lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and cow’s milk) and plenty of outdoor exercise walking tall distances), today, he has much to be thankful for. He used to indulge in playing cricket, swimming and biking. 

All these, he said, matched with a contented mind, and, not least, the tender loving care he got during his two marriages, which yielded ing 13 children and contributed in a big way towards helping him live to this ripe old age.  Both wives are now dead, but his children continue to care for him.

Having passed his School Leaving examination at an early age, he entered the teaching profession, and in time became qualified as a Class I Teacher, later moving on to the Teachers’ Training College which was then located on Battery Road, Kingston.  As a teacher, Edgar Jordan travelled extensively around the country, and was always willing to answer the call of duty, regardless of where it took him.  Some of the schools at which he taught were at De Willem, Berbice, Pomeroon and Bartica, where he spent most of his life.  He was a staunch Christian, a member of his church choir, an altar boy; and he nurtured his family in the fear and love of the Lord. To date, he is a member of the Church of Christ denomination.

“Grandfather” Edgar Jordan lives at Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara with his youngest daughter, Sylvie, and her husband, Garfield Niles, and family in a home where love abounds, and where, last Wednesday, a special birthday celebration was held in his honour. It was a party he probably would never forget – classy and complete with music, cake-sticking, popping of balloons and champagne, and with décor befitting a wedding. 

Elegantly seated at the birthday table amidst burgundy and bronze decorations, “Grandfather”, as he is fondly called, beamed as family members and friends hugged, kissed and showered him with gifts and birthday greetings.

Asked just how he felt about scoring 96 now when most of his friends and siblings would have already departed, he cheerfully replied, “I feel happy.  I am quite excited and now looking forward to making 100.” 

Winsome and witty, at 96, he’s a joy to have around, family members say; and even at his age, he makes no mistake with the identities of his children and grand-children.  He knows them all, knows where they live and can remember exactly the last time they telephoned or came to visit him. Supporting the notion that variety is the spice of life, he spends much time playing dominoes and card games with his children and grandchildren.

His voice is crystal clear and his vision is good. He loves to read, at times even without his spectacles. He sometimes takes telephone calls coming into the home. But incredibly, to this day, he still has all his teeth, has never experienced toothache and uses those teeth without caution.  He has no eating peculiarities, and eats just about anything and everything – as some would say “from rope to soap”.  He boasts of being a good cook, and as a country-man, his favourite dish is metemgee. As for fruits – he’s taken a special liking to bananas, mangoes and pineapples, and fondly asserts, “A fruit a day keeps the doctor away”.         

Except for arthritic pains now and then, and having to use a walker to aid his mobility, he has a reasonably clean bill of health and has never been affected by diabetes, which plagues so many – both young and old – these days. In fact, he loves ice-cream and perpetually munches on nut-cakes.  “I love nut-cakes. Ah love it bad, bad, bad, and can eat them every day,” he remarked.  Then, with a sense of humour, he said to our reporter: “You turn into a nut cake and see what happens.”

Edgar Jordan spends considerable time reading, and is in touch with current affairs. Living in a home where his son-in-law is Assistant Circulation Manager of the Guyana Chronicle, he is abreast with developmental activities taking place in the country, and also averse with what he bemoans as “traffic lawlessness”, resulting is the loss of countless innocent lives on the roadways.   His advice to young people now is, “Live well, in the fear and love of the Lord.  Honour your parents, and also be law abiding”. To those driving on the roads, his advice is: “Be cautious; desist from speeding.  You owe it to everyone on the road to see that they get to their destination safely and not dead.”