RON was the centre of attention at a Blandford care home as family, friends and fellow residents held a party to honour his 100th birthday.
The centenarian Ronald ‘Ron’ Burnhams boasts an impressive CV, with the Canterbury-born man serving as a naval veteran in the Second World War as well as a chief superintendent in the Metropolitan Police.
A gathering was held at Colten Care’s Whitecliffe House care home in Blandford, where he was joined by his daughters Scarlet and Melanie who prepared a special picnic lunch which was followed by a Victoria sponge birthday cake, as he requested, baked by chefs at the home.
Asked for his thoughts on reaching 100 and what his earliest memory is, Ron said: “I feel happy to have made it to 100.
“Thinking back to childhood, the earliest thing I can remember is seeing a beautiful girl who I dearly wanted to get to know and have as my own. Later, she was to become my wife.”
Ron was born in September 1925 in military barracks where his father was stationed as a soldier in the Queen’s Hussars.
From the age of two until he was seven, Ron lived with the family in India and the Far East before they returned to England and settled in the Essex town of Halstead.
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After leaving Halstead Council Senior School where he had become a house captain, Ron worked at a local foundry and later with an airfield construction company.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1943, serving as a lead signalman in cruise squadrons mainly in the Far East.
On leaving the navy, he began his police career as a bobby on the beat in Leyton, London, in 1950.
Living in Ilford to the east of London with wife Gladys and the two daughters, the young Constable rose swiftly through the ranks, with promotions as sergeant, station sergeant, inspector, superintendent and finally chief superintendent.
Ron with Colten Care home’s companionship team leader Sarah Vane Picture: Colten Care
During his superintendent years, Ron achieved widespread media coverage when, following doctors’ advice after a knee operation, he swapped his Panda car for a push bike to make his daily 5km patrol of the Met Police sub-division of Limehouse in London’s docklands.
He said the exercise certainly helped to strengthen his leg again.
Ron was the first senior police officer at the scene of the Dudgeon’s Wharf fire on the Isle of Dogs in July 1969. When an oil storage tank exploded, the blast killed five firemen and a construction worker.
It was the largest loss of life in the UK fire service caused by a single incident since the Second World War.
Away from frontline policing, Ron formed the Met’s tug o’ war club in 1965 and rekindled his vocal talents from boyhood church choir days to sing baritone in the force’s male voice choir.
He and fellow officers took part in charity shows throughout London including an annual concert at the Royal Festival Hall.
Ron’s hobbies have included sea angling, a sport he first started by shark fishing off the Australian coast during his navy service.
In his first year at Whitecliffe House, 2022, Ron showed off his acting abilities by playing Professor Henry Higgins in the home’s production of the musical My Fair Lady.
He was one of six performers who dressed up in Edwardian-style hats and wowed the audience with fellow residents, visiting families and staff all praising the show.
Whitecliffe House Home Manager Emma Williams said: “We were proud to help Ron and his family and friends celebrate his 100th birthday. It was lovely to hear him give a speech to thank everyone for coming and he was grateful for the event.”
Happy Birthday Ron….did you get your card from the King…lots of people don’t know you have to apply for it. xx