World War I soldier dies at 115!

[piston]

From today's Globe and Mail (Toronto)

World's oldest person dies at age 115
Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Emiliano Mercado del Toro was born when Puerto Rico was still a Spanish colony and trained as a soldier the year World War I ended.

On Wednesday, having spent just a month as the world's oldest person, he died at his home on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, his grandniece, Dolores Martinez told The Associated Press. He was 115.

“He died like a little angel,” Ms. Martinez said.

Mercado del Toro never married and had no children.

In the seaside town of Isabela, he became a local celebrity after he was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for his longevity.

“We're all crying, but we knew this day would come,” said town spokeswoman Rosa Luciano.

Mercado del Toro became the oldest known person in the world last month when 116-year-old Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bolden died in December in a nursing home in Tennessee.

A 114-year-old Connecticut woman, Emma Faust Tillman, is now believed to be the oldest living person. She was born Nov. 22, 1892.

[jbuck919]

Mercado del Toro never married and had no children.

Maybe there's hope for me yet.

My paternal grandfather was a WW I vet who died in 1970 at the age of 73 of preventable causes. He would be a mere 109.

[Ralph]

My father was a WWI vet (on the wrong side).

[Gary]

Mercado del Toro never married and had no children.

Ah, the secret to longevity!

[Corlyss_D]

My father was a WWI vet (on the wrong side).

I bet there's a story in there somewhere.

[Ralph]

My father was a WWI vet (on the wrong side).

I bet there's a story in there somewhere.

*****

Not that I know or ever will. I do have a faded photo of my father with members of his squad in 1918. They were lucky to survive.

[Donald Isler]

Many German Jews, like Ralph's family and mine, had members who fought in the German Army in the First World War. With the Islers it was a bit more complicated, as some members of our clan had come to America around 1890, so there were Islers fighting on BOTH sides of that war!