He was born during World War I and last weekend, a man from Steinbach celebrated his 100th birthday.

George Born grew up on a farm and in 1952 moved from Altona to Steinbach. By then he had already been married to his wife Margaret for 10 years. The couple had nine children together.

In 1972, the Borns purchased the Happy Dutch Mill restaurant in Blumenort. Even though it was named after a windmill, there was no windmill on site. And, so Born quickly took care of that, building a motor-driven windmill. They sold the restaurant in 1984.

But, Born admits he was never a carpenter. Learning everything "by hook or by crook," as he puts it, Born graduated from constructing a windmill to grandfather clocks. After building one for him and his wife, Margaret convinced him to build a clock for each of their children. They were all built of solid oak and to this day each one is still functional.

Born also served as Councillor for the Rural Municipality of Hanover for 12 years. He says he enjoyed it very much because it allowed him to help people.

At the age of 74, Born had an emergency bypass surgery. The doctor figured he should be content if he lived 10 more years. Two years later he went to Russia on a mission build trip. And 26 years after that surgery, his heart is still beating.

Born lost his wife on December 4th, 2011.

"I still miss her," he says.

She died only a few weeks before their 69th wedding anniversary. But that didn't slow down his travel schedule and at the age of 97, he accompanied his grandchildren on a 9-day Alaskan cruise.

"It was a fantastic trip, fantastic cruise," he says.

Born says he doesn't know how he made it to the century mark. He says he never gave it much thought but just took it one day at a time. He gives credit to his mother who lived to 103, for passing on the gene.

"I think she put something of that in me. I'm one hundred and still behind her," he says.

Born notes he has seen a lot of change in his lifetime. One example is weather patterns.

"Today we don't have snowstorms," he says. "Then we had three days straight, you couldn't see Heaven or earth."

He says there is more crime today, recalling the days when nobody locked their houses. And says, unfortunately, there is also more violence in the world now.

But not all was better in the good ol' days. Born says the other day he received a phone call from a loved one in Mexico wishing him a happy birthday. He notes that wouldn't have happened way back when.

Today, Born has 21 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren. Last weekend he had the opportunity to celebrate his birthday with many of them.