Romanian war veteran passed away at the age of 108 years

One of the oldest people from Romania passed away and was buried Wednesday in the commune of Turnu, in Arad County.

Gheorghe Covaci was born at 23 July 1905 in Cluj County (northern Romania) but moved to Arad when the northern part of the historical region of Transylvania was ceded to Hungary in 1940.

In the same year he was enrolled to the army and sent to fight in Cahul, a city that now is part of the Republic of Moldova.

In 1944 he had fought on the Western Front in the Second World War, when the Romanian Army contributed to the siege of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary.

After the war he worked at construction sites in Cluj-Napoca and Turda before being hired at the sugar factory in Arad until retirement.

Gheorghe Covaci marries his wife, Maria in 1931, they had one children, four grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and four great-great-grand children.

In 2004 he moved to the commune of Turnu, where he lived until his death.

He wanted to reach the age of 100, and after doing that, his next goal was to reach 110. However, his condition didn’t allow that, and died just two years short of achieving his next target.

In summer 2013 local authorities from the city of Pecica (which administrates the commune of Turnu) gave him a Title of Excellence “for being an example and as a sign of admiration”.
According to the Ministry of Interior, Romania has 461 citizens aged 100 years or older. The oldest is a woman from Tulcea County (Eastern Romania, next to the Black Sea) who is 112 years old.