✔ Age Certified by LongeviQuest
Ernest Charles Pusey was an American World War I veteran and supercentenarian who was the second-oldest living man in the United States. He was also the oldest known living person in Florida. His age has been validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) and recognised by LongeviQuest.
Pusey was born in Washington D. C., the capital city of the United States, on 5 May 1895. In his childhood, he would play close to the White House, and as a young man, delivered telegrams to various D. C. businesses. He was a sickly child, prone to coughing fits, and as such was sent to live with his grandparents in Virginia.
Pusey joined the navy in 1917, and spent his wartime days patrolling around the British Isles’ shipping lanes. Two years later, after the war’s end, he left the navy and travelled around the country for a few years. He married his first wife, Catherine, in 1923 and eventually settled in Michigan. The couple had one son, who Pusey outlived.
Pusey found employment with General Motors in Flint, Michigan, in 1926; he worked balancing clutch plates, a dirty job he reported it to be, later transferring to the tool department. He retired in 1958, and after he was widowed, relocated to Florida in 1960. Settling in Bradenton, he met his second wife, Ida, who died at the age of 95.
In his later years, Pusey tried out nursing home life, but opted instead to remain in his trailer with assistance from a caregiver. His hobbies included fishing and, every Sunday, enjoying a scallop dinner. At the age of 110, in January 2006, Pusey suffered a fall in his home, breaking two ribs and puncturing a lung. He had made a full recovery by the time of his 111th birthday.
Pusey died on 19 November 2006 at the age of 111 years, 198 days. He was survived by his daughter-in-law, four grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.
Pusey’s age was verified by Robert Young and Dan Kinske, and was validated by the GRG on 6 May 2005, the day after his 110th birthday.
It is currently uncertain when Pusey became Florida’s oldest resident, but it may have been following the 5 December 2005 death of Nieves Herrera, whose claimed age of 112 has not been validated as of August 2024. Upon his death, he was succeeded by Margaret Guill (1896 – 2007).
As one of the oldest – and among the last – living World War I veterans, then-Florida governor Jeb Bush presented Pusey with a World War I service medal on 10 November 2006, nine days prior to the latter’s death.
Bradenton man is ‘happy-go-lucky’ at 111 Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 5 May 2006
Nation’s oldest WWI veteran dies at 111 in Manatee Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 23 November 2006
World War I veteran Ernest Pusey dies at 111 NBC News, 24 November 2006
Pusey in an undated photo (Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
Pusey being presented with a WWI service medal nine days before his death (Source: NBC News)
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