Nanaimo RCMP S/Sgt. Trent Casson presents Cliff Hobbis with a framed photo as part of Hobbis' 100th birthday celebrations at Long Lake Chateau on Tuesday, June 30. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

100TH BIRTHDAY

Former RCMP, Canadian military officer celebrates 100th birthday in Nanaimo

Jul 1, 2020 | 10:52 AM

NANAIMO — After surviving the Second World War, spending time as an RCMP officer, battling illness and a recent stroke, Cliff Hobbis made it to a major milestone.

He celebrated his 100th birthday on Tuesday, June 30, joined by members of the Nanaimo RCMP detachment, dressed in full red serge, alongside roughly 50 of his friends and family at Long Lake Chateau.

“It means the whole world. It’s hard to explain being 100, 100 seemed impossible,” Hobbis said when asked what the milestone meant to him. “I don’t smoke, I don’t drink. I am a Christian and I say that’s all part of my life. I had a wife that was a mother, a wife for 77 years.”

Hobbis’ wife passed away in June 2019, however his five children and around 20 grandchildren and great-grandchildren attended the celebration.

Born in Regina, Hobbis served in the Canadian Armed Forces during the Second World War. He fought in both the Netherlands and Germany, getting wounded during both campaigns.

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“He was part of the liberation of Holland, the Battle of Britain,” Cliff’s son Pat Hobbis said. “He was blown up on a bridge, he survived. He got blown up in a building that came tumbling down all around 30 men…my dad came out, came home in 1946 on a stretcher.”

His brushes with death continued through different stages of his life, including being in a coma following an accident while working on the docks, battling pancreatitis and most recently over the weekend.

“Just a few days ago, he had a stroke and his right side went limp and his cheek drooped,” Pat said. “We got him on some oxygen and he’s back, talking…he’s the toughest man I can imagine, he’s been through so much.”

During his nine year service with the RCMP, inspired by his father’s own 32 year career, Hobbis was a drummer with the RCMP Musical Ride. He moved to Nanaimo in the 1970’s following his career as a special constable.

The story of his life and career inspired Nanaimo RCMP S/Sgt. Trent Casson to organize the festivities after being tipped off by one of his Constables.

“The story itself was awesome, it was just this man who served his country. That’s what led me to say there’s got to be something we can do to celebrate Mr. Hobbis,” S/Sgt. Casson said.

S/Sgt. Casson presented Hobbis with a letter from RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, a Generational Service medal recognizing his family’s 40-year contribution to the RCMP and a Nanaimo RCMP detachment coin as gifts.

alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley