Mark Sertich Gets Surprise Parade to Celebrate 99th Birthday

The world's oldest hockey player normally spends his birthday playing hockey. But this year, his family surprised him with a birthday parade.

DULUTH, Minn. – Birthday parties look a lot different this year due to the pandemic, but we still have to celebrate them, which is why birthday parades have become popular. And on Saturday, we had a very special reason to celebrate a popular hockey player in the Northland.

Mark “Sertie” Sertich turned 99 years old on Saturday. Sertie is the oldest hockey player in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Normally every year, he skates at the Heritage Center with friends and family to celebrate his birthday. But this year, his family decided to surprise him with a parade, with tons of family and friends driving by to wish Sertie a happy birthday.

“Gosh you can’t believe how excited I was! It was amazing, absolutely. It’s something that I never actually thought would happen and like I said, it’s wonderful. I feel honored to be appreciated by them this way,” Sertie said.

Sertie set the Guinness World Record for oldest hockey player at 95, and now still tries to skate a few days a week. With an even bigger birthday coming up next year, Sertie has no plays to stop playing hockey anytime soon.

“I had that goal a few years ago and I’m still hanging on. It’s getting tougher, you kind of slide down a little bit more and more but I’m going to be there until the end, yeah you bet,” Sertie added.

Sertie is already planning to be back at the Heritage Center skating for his 100th birthday next year with all of his friends and family.