Salustiano Sanchez

Salustiano "Shorty" Sanchez Blazquez (8 June 1901 - 13 September 2013) was the world's oldest living man, from the death of 116-year-old Japanese man Jiroemon Kimura on 12 June 2013 until his own death on 13 September, 2013. He was born in Spain, and immigrated to the United States when he was 17, living there until his death.

Life

Salustiano Sanchez was born in 1901 to Baldomera Blasquez and Serafin Sanchez in the village of El Tejado de Bejar, in Salamanca province, Spain. As he was growing up, he was admired for his skills playing the dulzaina musical instrument, which he played at village celebrations and weddings in order to earn money. Sanchez went to school until he was ten years old and taught himself after that point. He immigrated to Cuba at age 17 with his older brother Pedro and some of his friends. He initially worked in the sugar cane fields. Sanchez emigrated to the United States in August 1920 and eventually got a job in the coal mines of Lynch, Kentucky. He met his future wife Pearl Emilie Chiasera at the funeral of a mutual acquaintance in Pennsylvania. He married Pearl in 1934 and had two children (a son, John, and a daughter, Irene) with her. Sanchez's extended family includes seven grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren and five great-great grandchildren. Pearl died in 1988, after which Sanchez lived with his daughter Irene before he moved into a nursing home in 2007. Sanchez lived at a nursing home in Grand Island, New York, near Niagara Falls. Sanchez stated that his longevity is caused by eating one banana and taking six Anacin tablets each day.

Death

Salustiano Sanchez died in the nursing home on Grand Island on 13 September 2013. He will be buried at Gate of Heaven cemetery in Lewiston, New York.

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