A REMARKABLE pensioner who walked hundreds of miles a year and once gave his life savings to charity has died at the age of 106.
Sid Arrowsmith - affectionately known as Super Sid - raised tens of thousand of pounds for good causes by taking part in sponsored walks into his late 90s.
The great-grandfather died at the Elderwood care home in Darlington on May 20. A steely competitor to the very end, he was determined to live past his 106th birthday to set a new record as the home's oldest ever resident.
Mr Arrowsmith was born in 1901 at Durham Road, Darlington. One of four children, his parents died during a serious flu epidemic when he was in his teens.
He started his first job at the Robert Stephenson and Co railway works, and later worked as a maintenance fitter at Darchem.
His wife, Maggie, worked at a coffee shop in Post House Wynd, and the couple had one son, John.
The family lived at Crosby Street, Darlington, after Mr Arrowsmith took out a mortgage for £100. Mrs Arrowsmith passed away 16 years ago, and John died in 1995.
A keen rambler throughout his life, Mr Arrowsmith went hiking several times a week. With a bag of sandwiches under his arm, he would regularly travel as far as Spennymoor or Northallerton, but he only started to take part in charity walks when he turned 70.
Countless good causes benefited from his efforts over the next three decades, and on his 95th birthday he donated his life savings to the Samaritans, Darlington and District Talking Newspaper and RNLI.
When he reached 100 he was made an honorary lifeboatman - the oldest in the country - by the RNLI station at Redcar.
Mr Arrowsmith was one of the founder members of the Hopetown and Whessoe Working Men's Club in 1933 - his card was marked number two - and when he turned 90, Vaux brewery presented him with a medal which entitled him to free beer for life.
He suffered a stroke two days after his 100th birthday, and spent the next six years at the Darlington sheltered housing units Westfield House and Elderwood. During his final years, he was cared for by his friend Margaret Roper.
He leaves a grandson, Andrew, and great-granddaughter, Georgia.
The funeral is to be held on Wednesday. Friends are asked to meet at 11.45am for the service at Darlington Crematorium. No flowers by request, donations in lieu to Elderwood.
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