James Easton, a resident of Auckland, New Zealand, and the nation’s oldest living man, passed away on 17 September, at the age of 108 years, 279 days.
Easton was born in Kirkintilloch, Scotland, on 12 December 1916. At three, he moved with his family to Canada, and by age 11 they had settled in Australia’s Hunter Valley. He left school at 14, spending years “hoboing”—riding trains, traveling the country, and working odd jobs for food. Later, he turned to street photography, often taking portraits of servicemen before they shipped out to war.
At 23, Easton enlisted in the Australian Army, serving as a Signalman with the 8th Division Signals Regiment in World War II. Soon after arriving in Singapore, he was captured by Japanese forces and endured three and a half years as a prisoner of war, including forced labor on the Burma Railway. Released in a state of extreme malnutrition—down to 47 kilograms from his usual 80—doctors warned the ordeal had likely shortened his life by a decade.
Defying those predictions, Easton went on to decades of work managing crews for A&P shows across New Zealand. He regularly returned to Australia for Anzac parades, visited war graves in Southeast Asia six times, and lived to nearly 100. He married Maureen, with whom he had a daughter, Vikki.
Following the passing of Harry James Jack Coe (11 May 1916 – 14 May 2023), he became the oldest known living man in New Zealand.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of James Easton during this difficult time.
