Big Bear, teddy bear who survived German bombs, may be NZ's oldest

He's had bombs dropped on him, voyaged half way around the world, been taken out singing, and now sat in windows to help children through a pandemic.

At the ripe old age of 111, Big Bear is still looking good.

He is, we believe, Hawke's Bay's oldest teddy bear in the lockdown teddy bear hunt (we're still happy to be corrected).

Owner Rosemary Dingley, 75, said Big Bear was given to her mother when she was born in England on May 25, 1909.

Rosemary Dingley gives Big Bear a kiss at her Napier home.

"They lived in a beautiful house in Lincoln. It was flattened by the Germans as they jettisoned bombs on their way home," Dingley said.

"My grandmother, a maid and a cook were all killed. The only thing left standing was the garage."

Big Bear looks out at the world from his Napier home.

However, Big Bear survived and immigrated to New Zealand along with Dingley and her parents 55 years ago.

"I inherited Big Bear when my mother passed away. He's been all over the place with me. As part of the Harmony Singers we would go into retirement villages and perform and Big Bear always came along."

These days he sleeps most of the day on the spare bed in Dingley's Napier home, however he did make a brief appearance for the teddy bear hunt.

"It was a bit hot in the window for him so he's retired to the bedroom again for now."

Big Bear is just one year older than Ted, Kay Glenny's 110-year-old which we mentioned in Tuesday's paper.

The idea to find the oldest bear in Hawke's Bay was a suggestion from Hawke's Bay Today reader Jessica Maxwell.