One of last 3 U.S. WWI veterans
J. Russell Coffey, 109, the oldest known surviving U.S. veteran of World War I, died Thursday at the Briar Hill Health Campus in North Baltimore, Ohio, said Gaye Boggs of the nursing home. A cause of death has not been determined.
Coffey had been one of three known survivors of the more than 4.7 million Americans who joined the military in 1917 and 1918. He was in basic training when the war ended and was discharged soon after.
The two remaining U.S. veterans of the war are Frank Buckles, 106, of Charles Town, W.Va., and Harry Richard Landis, 108, of Sun City Center, Fla., according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Born Sept. 1, 1898, Coffey earned two degrees from Ohio State University after his Army service and received a doctorate in education from New York University. His wife, Bernice, whom he married in 1921, died in 1993.
He taught junior high and high school then physical education at Bowling Green State University from 1948 to 1969.
Coffey drove a car until he was 104 and lived in his own home until he was 105. A swimmer, he credited his longevity to healthful eating and exercise.
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