World’s oldest man, retired 50 years, dies

DEWITT, N.Y. – Fred Hale Sr., documented as the world’s oldest man, died Friday. He was 113 years old.

Hale died in his sleep Friday at The Nottingham in suburban Syracuse, while trying to recover from a bout of pneumonia, said his grandson, Fred Hale III. He was 12 days shy of his 114th birthday.

Born Dec. 1, 1890, Hale last month watched his lifelong favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, win the World Series again after 86 years.

Hale retired 50 years ago as a railroad postal worker and beekeeper, his grandson said. He enjoyed gardening, canning fruits and vegetables and making homemade applesauce.

“He had a routine and he rarely broke it because anyone else was around,” Hale III told the Post-Standard of Syracuse. “He didn’t need a lot to be happy.”

At age 95, Hale flew to Japan to visit a grandson who was in the Navy. While en route back to the United States, he stopped in Hawaii and even gave boogie-boarding a try.

At 103, Hale was still living on his own and shoveling the snow off his rooftop.

He was born in New Sharon, Maine, when there were only 43 stars on the American flag. He married Flora Mooers in 1910.

Hale lived in Maine until he was 109, when he moved to the Syracuse area to be near his son, Fred Jr., now 82.

Hale was also a Guinness record-holder for the oldest driver. At age 108, he still found slow drivers annoying, Fred Hale III said.