Obituary of Walter H. Seward

Walter Hamilton Seward, 111, known as the third oldest man in America who was the oldest resident of New Jersey and the oldest graduate of Rutgers University and of Harvard University, died on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008, at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. A 47-year resident of West Orange, he was also the 30th oldest documented person worldwide and the sixth oldest man in the world. Mr. Seward was attended by his children and family during his week-long illness. Services will include viewing hours at the Preston Funeral Home, 153 South Orange Ave., South Orange, on Friday, Sept. 19, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. There will also be a funeral service at Kirkpatrick Chapel of Rutgers University, Old Queens Campus, 81 Somerset St., New Brunswick, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, and interment at Siloam Cemetery in Vineland on Sunday, Sept. 21, at 1 p.m. Born in Toledo, Ohio, on Oct. 13, 1896, Walter was a bridge between three centuries and a witness to many of the changes in the United States, from his contact with Civil War veterans to his inclusion on YouTube. He attended high school in Vineland and went on to Rutgers College on a state scholarship, attending with Paul Robeson, and graduating cum laude in 1917. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1924, among such luminaries as future Florida senator, Claude Pepper. His instructors included future Supreme Court justice, Felix Frankfurter. He practiced property and title law in New York and New Jersey into the 1990s. In the 1930s, Walter worked as an attorney with the Home Owners Loan Corporation, a New Deal agency established to strengthen the liquidity of mortgage lenders and to refinance homes to prevent foreclosure. Walters devotion to Rutgers was expressed in his near-perfect attendance at annual reunion weekend events, including marching in the parade, initiating and convening the Chapel Service, hosting the single campuswide Punch Bowl reception and decades of service as Class of 17 president and correspondent. Also a member of the Old Guard and Loyal Sons, Mr. Seward was honored repeatedly by his alma mater and was the first recipient of the Walter H. Seward Class of 1917 Reunion Spirit Award. Mr. Seward was also honored with several state proclamations, and a host of awards, articles, interviews and broadcasts highlighting his service and many achievements. He was an avid hiker, and later a Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts leader. He enjoyed music and singing baritone in church choirs all his life. Walter was predeceased by his wife, Florence Betty Gardner Seward, and is survived by his son, Jonathan, of Boston; daughter, Marymae Henley of West Orange, and grandsons, Ethan and Logan. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Rutgers University Foundation, c/o the Walter Seward Memorial Fund, 7 College Ave., Winants Hall, New Brunswick, N.J. 08901 for purchase of a bench by Kirkpatrick Chapel and support of the Rutgers Oral History program.