Edgar Salo Keats (January 30, 1915 – March 2, 2019) was a

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living graduate of

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

. Keats graduated from the USNA in 1935. Keats was a

naval aviator Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves '' navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seaborne aviation encompas ...

. He was promoted to rear admiral shortly before his retirement in 1958. Following military service, he held civilian positions of leadership in the defense and construction sectors. Late in his life, he won

gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the Maryland

Senior Olympics The National Senior Games (Senior Olympics) are a sports competition for senior citizens in the United States. It is conducted by the National Senior Games Association (NSGA) once every two years. Akin to the Summer Olympics, it is a multi-sport ...

. He

turned 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

in January 2015. He died on March 2, 2019, at the age of 104 from complications of a fall.

References

1915 births 2019 deaths Military personnel from Chicago American men centenarians United States Navy admirals Accidental deaths from falls in the United States Place of death missing United States Navy personnel of World War II Accidental deaths in Maryland {{US-navy-bio-stub