SASKATOON -- At 103 years old, CTV Saskatoon's 2019 Citizen of the Year Harold Chapman continues to make a difference in the community he calls home.
Traditionally, the award is handed out during a luncheon earlier in the year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the event could not proceed as usual.
However, CTV Saskatoon brought the celebration to Chapman Tuesday morning.
For more than 70 years, Chapman has been instrumental in the cooperative movement across Saskatchewan. Chapman is also an accomplished author and invented into the Order of Canada in 2017, when he was 100 years old, as recognition for his philanthropy.
Chapman has had a hand in helping create many cooperatives in the city, including the Saskatoon Community Clinic and Station 20 West.
"I remember sitting across from him and he shared his book with me, and a little bit about his life's story. I just sat there in awe of this individual. Thinking 'man he has done so much' — to bring the community together working collaboratively and how when you work together with others you are at a much better position to meet the needs of the community," says Lisa Clatney with the Saskatoon Community Clinic.
Chapman says his lifetime commitment to the cooperative movement dates back to the struggles of the 1930s, growing up on a farm. "In the area where I was raised, the boys did not get past Grade 8. These are the folks who organized cooperatives in the communities."
According to Chapman, one of his proudest achievements was the creation of the Co-operative College of Canada, a school aimed at educating directors and managers about the importance of cooperatives.
Today, Chapman lives an active lifestyle at Amy McClure House in Saskatoon and continues to inspire those around him every day, which is why he has been named this year's CTV Citizen of the Year.
