[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/KenTurner09.jpg” caption=”Ken Turner is an active volunteer in the McMaster and Hamilton communities. Photo by JD Howell. “]At 99 years of age, Ken Turner could be living out his golden years in relaxation.

Instead, Turner has spent the last 6 years volunteering at the Bennett/Sekuler Vision & Cognitive Neuroscience Lab in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, where he participates in a variety of experiments.

“He's an inspiration to us all,” says Donna Waxman, research assistant in the lab. “People like Ken are what make our lab.”

And for good reason. While the lab sets standards for subjects in their 60's, Turner routinely exceeds them, excelling at the vision and coordination tests meant for people much younger than him.

“I like the challenge,” says Turner, who has decided not to retire but will limit the length of the tests he participates in. “I like outdoing the 72 year olds.”

Originally from Whitevale, Ontario, near Newmarket, Turner grew up on a farm during the height of the Great Depression. After 17 years in the air force he began a career in finance which he continues to this day, doing consulting work and income taxes.

“I'm doing 15 sets of income taxes and I have some other things on the go,” he says.

As though all of this was not enough to keep him busy, Turner has also logged more than 2,100 hours with Hamilton Health Sciences and has been a Rotarian, with perfect attendance, for 42 years.

His longevity often leads to questions surrounding his “secret” to nearly reaching the century mark. As a result, his published diet and exercise regimen has become a hot commodity around the lab.

Turner says he will continue to help out at the Bennett/Sekuler Lab for as long as he is physically able to. Given that his father lived until the age of 104, no one expects him to give it up any time soon.