RIP: Walter Seward

Walter H Seward
13 Oct 1896-14 Sep 2008

ZUI this article from the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger:

When they gather to remember Walter Seward at the Rutgers University chapel on Saturday, there are sure to be plenty of friends and admirers on hand.

Just don't expect to see any of his peers. Seward, who died Sunday, was a month shy of his 112th birthday.

Long celebrated as the oldest Rutgers alumnus, the West Orange resident also was believed to be the most long-lived New Jerseyan and the third-oldest man in the United States, according to the Gerontology Research Group, a California organization that tracks the world's most venerable people.

*******

Seward married at 61, had the first of his two children at 63, practiced law into his 90s and drove a car until the age of 98, when a broken hip sidelined him for a stretch.

He remained in good health until last week, when a blood infection weakened his heart.

*******

In addition to his children, Seward leaves two grandchildren. His wife, Florence "Betty" Seward, died six years ago at age 83.

According to the Gerontology Research Group (GRG), Seward was also the sixth-oldest man and the 30th-oldest person in the world at the time of his death.

He is the ninth supercentenarian listed by the GRG to die since the death of Clémentine Solignac on 25 May. The others were Willemina Everdina Hol of the Netherlands (3 Feb 1898-5 Jun 2008), Bessie Roffey of Alberta (2 Mar 1897-17 Jun 2008), Sue Morino of Japan (18 Mar 1898-20 June 2008), Stella Cooley of Ohio (6 Nov 1897-23 Jun 2008), Masatake Kinoshita of Japan (20 Aug 1897-17 July 2008), Delpha Johnson of Missouri (21 May 1898-22 Jul 2008), Mary Sloan of Ontario (11 Jun 1898-12 Aug 2008) and Kiku Nishimura of Japan (2 May 1897-22 Aug 2008).

The GRG's list of validated living supercentenarians (people who have reached their 110th birthday) has not yet been revised to include Seward's death. Without him, it would currently include 78 people (9 men and 69 women), ranging from Edna Parker of Indiana (born 20 Apr 1893) to Eunice Bowman of England (born 23 Aug 1898). None of them are residents of New Jersey.