Picture this: there's Vernon's Michael Muller, flu-ridden, bursting from his 22nd Street home behind the Caetani Centre one day in the late 1960s, a pick axe in one hand and running as fast as he can.
The City of Vernon employee, affectionately called the Sewer Rat for his job keeping the city's sewer systems up to date and running smoothly, knew the sewers well. He'd found things like watches, rings, and, heck, even the odd set of dentures.
Now, on this particular day, after throwing up his own set of false teeth, Muller bolted for the nearest manhole cover. Hence the pick axe for opening up the hole.
"I had to get my own teeth back," smiled Muller, who celebrated his 100th birthday Feb.15 with a small party on Valentine's Day at Gateby Place, home of Interior Health's Daybreak Adult Day Services.
Born Feb. 15, 1925 in the former Yugoslavia, in a town called Suchara (no longer on a map), Muller was the middle child of three. There was an older sister and a younger brother, both deceased now. His dad was a barber.
The Second World War separated the Muller family for a time, and Muller found his way to Germany and got a job in a machine shop before joining the Wehrmacht 鈥� the German Army 鈥� where he served as a corporal and a cavalry man. He had part of his right ear shot off during the war.
His father, after the war, made it to Canada, and to Vernon.
Muller boarded a train in Halifax on Jan. 10, 1952, and spent four days riding the rails west to Kamloops, before getting on another train and landing in Vernon.
He took a number of jobs in the North Okanagan. He worked for Lumby Pole and Stave Lumber, and worked as a farmhand on Joe Sasaki's property. That's where he met his wife, Eva Knittle. Their first date was to a movie. The pair married Oct. 9, 1954, and remain hitched today, though they live in separate facilities.
Muller and his bride bought property in Vernon, and he got a job with the city.
"The smells at first working in the sewers were awful, but you got used to it," said Muller.
He and his bride welcomed the first of their two sons, Mike, in 1955. George came along five years later. Both boys were born in Vernon. Muller has two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Grandson Jeffrey Muller was on hand for the intimate birthday party at Daybreak.
"Their home was like a second home to me," said Jeffrey of his grandfather and grandmother's home on lower East Hill. "He was always supportive of me. I'd come over to help and they always wanted me to stay for dinner. He's an awesome man, and she's an amazing woman."
Hard work, staying active. Those were Muller's answers when asked his secret to making it as a centenarian. He loved bowling at Lincoln Lanes; lawn bowling at the Vernon Lawn Bowling Club in Polson Park. He liked camping and, oh my, then there was his large garden at his home, said his family. Muller was huge into having a green thumb.
Muller and his family 鈥� which included son Mike, daughter-in-law Karin, grandchildren Jeffrey and Lisa, and the two great grandsons 鈥� enjoyed some black forest cake as they celebrated the milestone birthday.
