1 of last 3 World War I vets dies

[cec]

1 of last 3 World War I vets dies




The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Dec 21, 2007 6:59:24 EST

NORTH BALTIMORE, Ohio — The last World War I veteran in Ohio — and one of three known remaining U.S. veterans from that conflict — has died.
J. Russell Coffey died Thursday at the age of 109, 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 what he died of. He had been living in the Blakely Care Center, a nursing home.
Coffey, born Sept. 1, 1898, didn’t see action overseas. He 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.
Coffey played semipro baseball, earned a doctorate in education from New York University, taught high school and college and raised a family.
He drove his car until he was 104. He lived on his own until three years ago.
The other known surviving American soldiers are Frank Buckles, 106, of Charles Town, W.Va., and Harry Landis, of Sun City Center, Fla., according to the Veterans Affairs Department.
Funeral services for Coffey will be held Saturday, according to the funeral home.



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