Earl Brush, 111; the Oldest Man in California

Earl Fred Brush, California’s oldest man who bought his first car, a Maxwell Overlong, in 1913 and drove until he was 100, has died at the age of 111.

Brush died Jan. 10 in the Jones Convalescent Home in San Leandro, Calif.

Although the state has two older female residents, Margaret Russell, 112, and Marion Higgins, 111, Brush had been verified as the oldest living man in the state, said Dr. L. Stephen Coles, co-founder of the UCLA-based Gerontology Research Group, which validates world records for extreme longevity.

Brush was born July 17, 1893, in Marshall, Iowa, and at 17 moved to Minnesota with his family to homestead. He met his future wife, Eva Baker, in church and worked as a potato farmer, mechanic and electrician. During the Depression, Brush returned to his hometown, where he managed a Montgomery Ward store.

Lured by military production hiring in World War II, Brush moved with his wife and three children to Oakland, where he got a job installing elevators in aircraft carriers. He later sold appliances and worked as an electrical inspector until his retirement in 1963 at age 70.

Brush continued to read the newspaper and work a crossword puzzle every day. His 88-year-old daughter, Naomi McCray, said her father attributed his longevity to “strong genes, refraining from smoking or drinking, and staying married to the same woman for 67 years.”

Brush was preceded in death by his wife in 1981 and a son, Robert, in 1994. He is survived by his daughter, a son, George, 85, and their families.