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Fred Hale Sr., the world's oldest man, who was still shoveling snow off his roof at 103 and driving at 108, has died at the age of 113.
Hale, who held the tenuous men's longevity record for more than eight months, died Friday in his sleep in suburban Syracuse, N.Y. He had been fighting a case of pneumonia.
The hardy Hale was recognized as the world's oldest man on March 5 by the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, which verifies data for Guinness World Records. His designation followed the death of Joan Riudavets Moll of Spain, and the title now passes to Hermann Dornemann, 111, of Germany.
All three men, along with 61 others, mostly women, have been verified as "supercentenarians," or people at least 110 years old, said Dr. Stephen Coles and Robert Young of the Gerontology Research Group.
The oldest verified person now living, Young confirmed Sunday, is Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, 114, of the Netherlands. She was born June 29, 1890.
Hale, who was born Dec. 1, 1890, in New Sharon, Maine, had lived in his rugged native state until he was 109. Then he finally moved south — to Syracuse, which is still well within the Snow Belt — to be near his son Fred Jr., 82.
Father and son happily watched on television last month as Fred Sr.'s lifelong favorite baseball team won the World Series. The senior Hale was one of the few Boston Red Sox fans alive to see the team win the 2004 series and its last series 86 years ago.
Hale made his living as a railroad postal worker. But he retired 50 years ago and devoted himself to things he liked better — gardening, canning fruits and vegetables, and making his own applesauce.
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-me-hale22nov22.story
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