Royal Canadian Air Force
Albert was born 11 March 1915 in London, England. After his parents divorced, he was sent to Canada at age 14 by his father with the help of the National Children’s Orphanage. Upon arriving in Halifax, Middleton worked three years as a labourer on a farm to repay the cost of the ship’s passage.
On 21 September 1943 he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force and claimed he was good at “dodging all the bullets.” He was stationed in Lachine, Quebec, until he was deployed to England, where he served for most of the Second World War. After the war, he returned to Canada aboard the ship Aquitania and received his discharge on 12 July 1946 at age 31. He continued his military service as an Air Force Reservist in the post war years.
After his service, Albert worked briefly as a security guard. In 1952, with the help from the Veterans Land Act, he acquired a sixty-five-acre hobby farm in Ontario. He worked in various Ontario factories, including Massey Ferguson, a manufacturer of farm equipment. He retired from Massey Ferguson in 1980. He operated his small farm even while working full time, enjoying a steady stream of livestock such as pigs and beef cattle. Albert was an enthusiastic and modern hobbyist, buying a tractor when many farmers were still using horses and plowshares. Middleton had three children with his first wife.
At age 70, Middleton, who was then divorced, re-married and moved back to England for two decades, travelling with his wife Constance until her death in 1996. He stayed in England for a few years, before deciding to return to Canada. At age 90, he was fed up with the hard winters of Ontario. He had heard that the weather in coastal British Columbia, was closer to England’s so he chose to make Victoria his new home.
Albert lived independently until he was over 100 years old. He was known for taking the bus to Mayfair Mall daily, where he met with friends.
His daughter, Darlene Van Raay stated, “People often asked what’s his secret to his long life and I remember him always saying, ‘Don’t give in.’” Mandy Parker of Broadmead Care, described Middleton as “an unfailingly cheerful and kind-hearted person.” Albert passed away on 12 February 2025 as the oldest man in Canada. He died just short of his 110th birthday.
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