Photo credit: Diane Boyko

Happy birthday to Saskatoon resident Nick Kazuska, who turns 104-years old-today.  He and his wife celebrated on the weekend at Preston Park with family and friends. Nick is a World War II Veteran and served with an anti-aircraft regiment. He says he remembers a friend of his being hit by a bomb right in front of him, but he prefers thinking about the good memories, like playing in the army band.

Nick says music has always been a big part of his life, in fact, it’s how he met his wife, Helen. They first met when he was playing stand-up bass in a band at her wedding. She was widowed when they met again after he came home from the war. Nick says he was at church with his family and saw her, so he asked her on a date, and the rest is history.

He played in many Ukrainian bands during his lifetime and still plays the stand-up bass and loves to dance with his wife. The 104-year-old has no advice for anyone looking to live a long, healthy life, but does have a theory for his longevity. His mother told him when he was born, she wasn’t able to nurse him and there were no cows on the farm, so instead she fed him tea and sugar and he “took off” from there.