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Oldest WWI vet dies, 2 remain

NORTH BALTIMORE, Ohio — J. Russell Coffey, the oldest known surviving U.S. veteran of World War I, has died. He was 109.

Coffey, one of only three U.S. veterans known to survive from the “war to end all wars,” died Thursday, according to a funeral home.

The obituary released by Smith-Crates Funeral Home in North Baltimore, about 35 miles south of Toledo, did not say where Coffey died or the cause of death. He had been living in the Blakely Care Center, a nursing home.

Although he never saw combat, Coffey was one of the U.S. military’s last representatives of that era. More than 4.7 million Americans joined the military from 1917-18.

Coffey was the last World War I veteran in Ohio. Harry Richard Landis, 108, of Sun City Center, Fla., is now the oldest surviving U.S. veteran of the war. Also living is Frank Buckles, 106, of Charles Town, W.Va., according to the Veterans Affairs Department.

John Babcock, 107, of Spokane, Wash., served in the Canadian army and is the last known Canadian veteran of the war.

Coffey enlisted in the Army while he was a student at Ohio State University in October 1918, a month before the Allied powers and Germany signed a cease-fire agreement. He was discharged a month after the war ended.

His two older brothers fought overseas, and he was disappointed at the time that the war ended before he shipped out. But he told The Associated Press in April 2007: “I think I was good to get out of it.”

His interests were traveling, teaching and athletics, said his daughter, Betty Jo Larsen.

Coffey once confided to her that he wished people would remember his contributions rather than his old age.

Born Sept. 1, 1898, Coffey played semipro baseball in Akron, earned a doctorate in education from New York University, taught in high school and college and raised a family.

He delivered newspapers as a youngster and would read the paper to immigrants, his daughter said. “That was the beginning of him being a teacher,” she said.

Coffey returned to Ohio State University after he left the Army and received two degrees from the school.

He taught junior high and high school in Phelps, Ky., and Findlay. He then taught physical education at Bowling Green State University from 1948 until 1969.

He said he loved teaching.

“I could see results,” he said. “I could see improvement.”

Coffey also taught psychology and driver’s education during his career. He was a swimmer and credited his longevity to healthy eating and exercise.

He had a remarkable memory and was independent, his daughter said. He drove his car until he was 104, and lived in his own home until a year later.

His wife Bernice, whom he married in 1921, died in 1993.

Funeral services for Coffey will be held Saturday, according to Smith-Crates Funeral Home in North Baltimore.

Among the other World War I veterans who died this year were Emiliano Mercado del Toro, 115, who ranked as world’s oldest person for the last weeks of his life, and Charlotte Winters, 109, the last known American female veteran of the war.