Obit of the Day
Looking at the famous, infamous, not-so-famous, and unique lives that have shuffled off this mortal coil.
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Obit of the Day: The World’s 4th Oldest Person
Delma Kollar was born on Halloween in 1897. That’s not a typo. William McKinley was President of the United States. She would live to see nineteen more. The airplane flew for the first time when she was five. When women were given the vote, she was 22 years old. Those eyes witnessed history in three different centuries. At the time of her death she was the fourth oldest person in the world. (The oldest is Besse Cooper of Monroe, Georgia. She’s 115.)
Mrs. Kollar is survived by one 87-year old son, six grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, 11 great-great grandchildren, and one great-great-great grandchild. For those doing the math that is five living generations at one time.
(Image is courtesy of grg.org)
Two other great supercentenarian posts from January: The World’s Oldest Leap Year Baby and The Oldest Sitting Judge in the U.S.
Obit of the Day: Oregon “Diehard”
On Wednesday, May 18, 2011 the Boston Red Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers, 1-0. Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia knocked in the game’s only run. There was a rain delay in the 8th inning, see above. Clay Bucholz got the win; Daniel Schlereth the loss.
And sitting in Red Sox owner John Henry’s box at that game was 82 year old Bob Lavey. Lavey, and seven other friends, travelled from Oregon as Henry’s guests.
Decades earlier, a group of displaced Red Sox fans in Oregon formed a group decades earlier called “The Diehards” who would travel across the country to watch their favorite team play. In 2010 they headed to AT&T Park to see the Sox play the San Francisco Giants. In an effort to avoid the cold a few of the guys headed to an indoor bar and struck up a conversation with another Sox fan. This fan, though, happened to own the Sox. Henry, hearing that the Diehards hadn’t been to Fenway offered them his box.
And there they sat on May 18, in John Henry’s box, at Fenway Park, watching their beloved Sox win 1-0.
On the flight home the next day, Bob Lavey passed away from a heart attack. Many a baseball fan will appreciate that.
Click on the post header to read the entire column by Steve Duin, it’s great.
(Image copyright Major League Baseball/Elise Amendola. By the way, although OOTD is a Yankees fan, Dustin Pedroia is just so baseball. Like he’s going to play even with the tarp on the field.)
