BIOGRAPHY

Horace Wilson Baumer was born in Minersville, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, USA on 17 December 1913. His father died in 1918 from the Spanish flu, and his mother died just five years later from tuberculosis, leaving the young orphaned Baumer to be raised by his paternal grandmother, Anna Eliza Baumer. When attending Girard College in Philadelphia, a home for orphaned boys, he learned a machinist’s trade, leading to him working as a machinist at Bethlehem Steel’s Grace Mine near Morgantown for around 25 years.

On 23 June 1940, he married Genevieve Petchkofski in Minersville. They went on to have four children, but all of them died after just a few days due to a blood deficiency. The couple owned a camper which they would pull using their Chevy pickup truck, and would often vacation at campgrounds in Maryland. Horace remained active into old age, driving his truck into his 90s. He tended to a garden in his yard, and would supply his entire neighborhood with tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Horace and Genevieve Baumer would remain married for nearly 62 years until Genevieve’s death in 2002.

Baumer continued to live independently in his own home until July 2022, when a fall left him hospitalized for two months. Upon being discharged, he moved into a nursing home in Pottsville.

Baumer passed away in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, USA, on 30 December 2023, at the age of 110 years, 13 days.

RECOGNITION

In 2018, to commemorate his 105th birthday, Baumer received a plaque from then-Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf.

His age was verified by James Roberts, and validated by LongeviQuest on 25 December 2023.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Horace Baumer, 109, sings of a world that sleeps in heavenly peace” – Republican Herald, 17 December 2022

* Horace W. Baumer – Legacy

GALLERY