What survivor lived to be the oldest male survivor

[Andrew Maheux]

I was wondering, of the male survivors which one lived to be older than any other male.
I heard that Frederick Ray lived to be 98 years old. could it be him?

Andrew

 

[Michael Findlay]

Andrew,

From memory, I think steward Frederick Dent Ray holds the record....age 97 at the time of his death in 1977.

Regards,

Mike Findlay

 

[Filipe Prista Lucas Rodrigues Lopes]

The male survivors that lived to be the oldest were, to the best of my knowledge, Frederick Dent Ray (97), George Thomas Rowe (95), Olaus Jorgensen Abelseth (94), Frank George Prentice (92), Neshan Krekorian (92), Michel Marcel Navratil (92) and Emilio Ilario Portalupi (92).

Hope this helps

Filipe Prista

 

[Andrew Maheux]

Thank you very much for responding, Filipe and Michael. Ive allways wondered which male survivor lived to be the oldest.

Thanks again

Andrew

 

[Colleen Collier]

I am curious to these mens nationalities and classes to see if it had anything what so ever to do with their longevity. I know we have one Frenchman and one steward but I am not sure about the rest. Thanks Colleen

 

[Phillip Gowan]

Colleen,
Ray, Rowe and Prentice were British. Abelseth was Norwegian, Krekorian was Armenian, Portaluppi was Italian and Navratil was ethnic Slovak/Italian.

 

[Colleen Collier]

Phillip,
Thank you for that fascinating information, and definately for the correction on Navratil! ( It was stareing me in the face on page 170 of an Illustrated History). My next curiosity is how old was the oldest American male? Did he even make it in the top ten? Thanks! Colleen

 

[Phillip Gowan]

Hi Colleen,
I think these are the three native born American men who lived the longest (at least of the ones who have been tracked down):

1. Edward Pennington Calderhead 91 yrs 10 mos 1 day

2. Albert Francis Caldwell 91 yrs, 6 mos 2 days

3. Abraham Lincoln Salomon 90 yrs, 7 mos.

Regards,
Phillip

 

[Colleen Collier]

WOW PHILLIP you did it again!
Number 3's name. OOOWWWW very dignified and prestigous. (I like it). I have not made a mental note of that name before, so I will have to go searching for it. Is there much written on him offhand?
Do you have any ideas or thoughts to their longevity? I originally guessed the antioxidents in tea, as British drink quite allot of it, healthy eating, or a family line of long life, but that is just far out guesses.
Thank you again Phil. Sincerely,
Colleen

 

[Phillip Gowan]

Colleen,
Abraham Salomon (who went by "Abram" in later years) was a native New Yorker, son of a Jewish immigrant. He married Henrietta Wolff and was the owner of an early office supply type business which is why he traveled abroad. He and "Hettie" had one daughter Helen Salomon who never married. By the time I was seriously doing research on him, virtually the entire family had died out. I did locate two of his wife's nieces, one in New York and one in California and one of them has since died. They were very interesting ladies and enjoyed talking about their memories of their "Uncle Abe." Both remembered him as a very reclusive man who seldom spoke. The niece in California told me that she remembers family gatherings back in the 1920's when Abe and Hettie and Helen would attend. Hettie and Helen would get into the big thick middle of the parties and conversations while Abe would seem to hover back away from other people. The niece told me that although she is sure he did talk sometimes, she could not honestly remember ever hearing his voice. She then added "he always seemed like a man who was hiding something." One has to wonder if he was ashamed of having survived Titanic. I have what I think is the only family portrait type photo of him still in existence. He was a distinguished looking old gent with glasses and gray hair-not stereotypically Jewish in appearance-the photo does not betray his shyness and reclusiveness--he is bright-eyed and obviously intelligent.

He left a large estate when he died and through the shrewd investments of his daughter, the value of the estate had doubled by the time she died (just 10 years after Abe). The money passed to surviving cousins and one Aunt who outlived Helen.

I hope the above was of at least slight interest.

Phil

 

[Kyrila Scully]

Hi, Phillip,
Could you e-mail me privately regarding a message I received where you were mentioned to me? I tried to access your e-mail address by clicking onto your profile but my computer wouldn't allow me access. My e-mail address is [email protected]. Thanks.

Kyrila