Antonio Pierro, 110; considered state's last WWI veteran

Antonio Pierro , who was believed to be the last living World War I veteran in Massachusetts and the oldest veteran in the country, died yesterday at Grosvenor Park nursing home in Salem, relatives said. He would have turned 111 next Thursday.

"He was an old-fashioned sweetheart, a real nice, gentle soul who always enjoyed a smile," said Rick Pierro , a nephew, who looked after him when they lived together for much of the past decade in Swampscott. "He liked to give compliments to make people happy. He was a perfectionist who adhered to three square meals a day and always greeted women with a kiss to the hand."

The number of living World War I veterans is dwindling quickly. Mr. Pierro's death leaves only seven American World War I veterans known to be alive, said Laurie Tranter , a spokeswoman for the US Department of Veterans Affairs . When the department began identifying living World War I veterans in early 2005, they found 25.

Mr. Pierro's relatives said the native Italian was the oldest American and Italian man alive, and the second oldest man in the world. Guinness World Records gerontology consultant Robert Young told the Associated Press that Mr. Pierro was the oldest US man in its records.

Born in the southern Italian city of Forenza in 1896, Mr. Pierro had five brothers and one sister. In 1914, Mr. Pierro took a boat from Naples and followed his father and brothers through Ellis Island to Swampscott.

Three years later, he was drafted into the US Army and sent back to Europe, where he served for 18 months as an artilleryman in France. "He was given the option of fighting for Italy, but he said he wanted to fight with the Americans," his nephew said.

He carried many awful memories, but they didn't weigh him down, his nephew said. "He saw trench warfare up close and used to talk about bringing bodies from the trenches that still smelled of poisonous gas," his nephew said.

In an interview with the Globe last May, Mr. Pierro said he had to dodge shells as he took a wagon to the front lines with supplies and returned with bodies. On one occasion a shell exploded, he said, killing the horse that was pulling his wagon. Another time, he said, he was resting in the forest when a shell struck a tree nearby and failed to detonate.

"During the war everything was action," Pierro told the Globe. "You're at the front line, you duck the shells coming your way. It was no fun being out at the front lines, being shot at. You gotta duck."

Mr. Pierro returned to Massachusetts in 1919 and married a year later. He worked at a shoe shop in Lynn and later managed a body shop at a local car dealership. Then he went to work for General Electric's small aircraft engine group in Lynn, where he spent 17 years before retiring in 1961.

His wife, Mary, died in 1967. The couple did not have children.

"He was a wonderful person, a really wonderful man," said his niece, Emily Pierro , of Swampscott. "He had a very strong character. He was gentle and very honorable. He just loved people. He was a real charmer who lived a wonderful life."

He spent his time gardening, playing gin rummy, and eating at restaurants. He also loved to play checkers.

"Nobody could beat him," his niece said.

Mr. Pierro moved to Marblehead in 1948 and remained there until 1996, when he moved in with his nephew and his only living brother, Nicholas Pierro, who is 97. They lived together until Mr. Pierro's health declined about six weeks ago and the family decided he would get better care at the nursing home.

Russell Buchanan , the state's second-to-last known World War I veteran, died in December. He was 106. The oldest living veteran is now John Babcock of Spokane, Wash., who became a US citizen after serving with the Canadian Army in World War I, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. He was also born in 1896, but his date of birth was not available yesterday.

Resilient and from a family with longevity -- both of his parents lived into their early 90s -- Mr. Pierro liked to eat eggs covered in salt.

"You wouldn't believe the amount of salt he would put on his food," his nephew said.

He also survived working for years in a factory polluted with lead dust and paint fumes.

"His body could filter any problem," his nephew said.

In an interview with the Globe last February, he spoke of how he ate bacon and red meat, and smoked until he was 60, but had a normal cholesterol level and blood pressure. He could eat three muffins in a sitting. Instead of gargling with Listerine, he drank it every morning, in the belief that it would make him healthier.

A slight man -- 5 feet tall and weighing 120 pounds -- he insisted on helping shovel snow, rake leaves, and wash the dishes.

"If you don't have exercise, you get stiff, you're not worth anything," Pierro told the Globe.

"It's all up to you to do what you want in life," he said. "There are pleasant things to do, and there are terrible things not to do, and that's the way I see it."

In addition to his brother, nephew, and niece, Mr. Pierro leaves three other nephews, Robert of Marblehead, Anthony of Salem, and Michael of Manchester, Conn.

A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Monday in St. John the Evangelist Church in Swampscott. Burial will be in Swampscott Cemetery.