World’s oldest man, a native of Maine, dies in N.Y. at 113

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

Hale died in his sleep 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 in 1957 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 his native Maine until he was 109, when he moved to the Syracuse area to be near his son, Fred Jr., now 82.

On March 5, 2004, the Guinness Book of Records acknowledged him as the oldest living man when Joan Riudavets Moll of Spain passed away at age 114.

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

Hale outlived his wife, who died in 1979, and three of his five children. He had nine grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren.

Hale credited his longevity to bee pollen and honey that he ate each day, along with the occasional nip of whiskey in the morning.

The world’s oldest living man is now Hermann Dornemann of Germany, age 111. There are 26 living women older than him, according to Gerontology Research Group.

A funeral service for Hale will be held Tuesday at Hobbs Funeral Home in South Portland. He’ll be buried in Farmington, Maine.