Lefroy Brownlow Place Celebrates 107th Birthday
The City of Hamilton today recognized the 107th birthday of former Corporation of Hamilton employee Mr. Lefroy Brownlow St. Claire Place.
A spokesperson said, “Born during the middle of World War I on July 24, 1916, Mr. Place worked for the Corporation for over 30 years – retiring when he was 80 years old!
“During that time, Mr. Place was the Custodian at City Hall and, later, mail courier for the Corporation.
“The former bodybuilder walked to and from work every day from his home near Marsh Folly – even walking home for lunch, and he always arrived at work an hour early.”
“In life, you can’t afford to be late; you’d miss too much”, he said whimsically.
In his role as City Hall Custodian, Mr. Place said he would sometimes work “the midnight shift” from 12am until 8am.
“It was my job to unlock and lock the building for any events taking place at City Hall,” he said. “There were so many concerts and plays back then; it was always busy. Whenever one play closed, another one opened!
“I liked it so much. I enjoyed learning about the City; it’s most surprising what you learn. I was proud to work there. I always spoke my mind. I had a belief that if you don’t believe in yourself, you can’t believe in anything else.”
The spokesperson said, “Among his many fond memories of his job was the Christmas Tree judging competition in the City Hall lobby – in part because Christmas is his favorite time of the year. Today City CEO Dwayne Caines presented Mr. Place with gift certificates for The Market Place and The Phoenix Centre on behalf of the City.”
Mr. Caines said, “The Place family has always held a significant spot in my heart – with our houses being right next door to each other. It is a poignant honour to know that Mr. Place worked for the Corporation for all those years and that he truly represented the gold standard of service to the community.
“I want to thank Mr. Place for his dedication and commitment to the Corporation, which is unmatched. People still – to this day – speak of his quality of work and his commitment to giving Bermuda his best.
“City Councillor RoseAnn Edwards made it our humble responsibility to honour him today, and I am extremely grateful that she did.”
When asked the secret to his longevity, Mr. Place – who is the son of Founding Publicist of The Bermuda Recorder newspaper A.B. Place – replied, “God doesn’t have a secret, so he didn’t share anything with me!”
The spokesperson said, “An avid walker, Mr. Place, who has 14 great-grandchildren, doesn’t drink or smoke. Up until only two years ago, the father-of-three was still driving a car – having only applied for a license at the age of 70!”
“I never lost my license; I just decided to retire from driving,” he explained.
The spokesperson said, “The Place family held a reunion of almost 500 family members at Clearwater Beach earlier this month, which happily coincided with the patriarch’s birthday.”
Corporation. Congratulations Mr. Place and best wishes.