Croatia’s oldest person Josip Kršul turns 109
- by croatiaweek
- in News
Josip Kršul turns 109 today (Photo credit: HNK Rijeka)
ZAGREB, 10 December 2020 – The oldest living person in Croatia, Josip Kršul, has turned 109 today.
Josip celebrates his 109th birthday in the same house he was born in back in 1911 in Selce in Croatia’s Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.
After finishing school in Selce and Crikvenica, Josip studied to be an electrician. He was unable to find a job in his hometown so he went to Sibenik where he became a telegraphist.
At the start of World War II, Josip moved to Texas in America where he worked odd jobs. He ended up joining the United States Army and in 1945 he participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima.
He obtained US citizenship and after the war moved to California. He would spend most of his life working in Western Union in San Francisco. Josip got married to an American-Croatian, Milica. The couple had no children.
Milica passed away in 2006 and five years later, around 2011, Josip decided to move back to Croatia to live. Longevity is in the genes, his sister Jelena made it to 102.
He has been the oldest living person in Croatia since the death of Andja Peric on 7 February 2019 at the age of 108.
Josip resides today with family in Selce and according to them, he lives quite routinely. He likes walks, eats little but measured, and drinks coffee, tea, and a glass of wine every day, and sometimes rakija in the morning.
A big fan of Croatian football club NK Rijeka, Josip was made a member of the club on his 108th birthday last year, becoming the club’s oldest member.
