CP Crawford, who at 112 may have been the oldest person in the United States, died over the weekend at a south suburban nursing home.
Community activist Andrew Holmes, who visited Crawford about twice a month, said the nursing home in Lansing called him about 6 a.m. Saturday.
“He went peaceful. He wasn’t sick or anything,” Holmes said Monday. “It broke my heart.”
Crawford celebrated his 112th birthday in August, and then the longtime White Sox fan attended his first game in September.
A longtime Chicago resident, Crawford had lived about eight years at Tri-State Village nursing home in Lansing, said Sheila Huff, recreational services director.
Crawford was always alert and talkative until the last couple of weeks, when his health started to decline, Huff said.
His son, Shawn Doston, 50, believes his father was one of the greatest men on Earth.
“He was calm, cool and collected,” his son said. “He was a hard worker and was always very respectful of his family and my mother.”
“People would always ask him what the secret was to his longevity, and he would say first put God before anything, eat right and mind your own business,” Doston said.
Doston set up a fundraiser on his Facebook page to help offset the cost of a funeral.
Visitation will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, at Gatling’s Chapel in South Holland, Doston said. The funeral will be held there Dec. 1 at 3 p.m.
