Luiz Hilario Pereira Garro

Luiz Hilário Pereira Garro (3 March 1851 – 7 July 1958) was a Brazilian military centenarian and the last known combatant of the Paraguayan War.

Luiz Hilario Pereira Garro Centenarian
Birth:	3 March 1851 Ponte Nova, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Death:	7 July 1958 Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Age:	107 years, 124 days
Country:	BRA

Biography

Luiz Hilário Pereira Garro was born in Ponte Nova, Minas Gerais, Brazil, into a traditional family from the region.

He entered the military career during the Paraguayan War (1864-1870), having his baptism of fire was during the Retreat from Laguna, from May to June 1867. After the war, Pereira Garro joined the police force of Minas. During the First Republic of Brazil, he also served during the Federalist Revolution (1893-1895), in Battalion 31 under the orders of General Pinheiro Machado in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and later in War of Canudos (1896-1897).

He married in 1894, at the age of 43, Maria Bonifácia Pereira Garro (née Lobo) (1869-1959) and they had 12 children, of whom 8 were alive at the time of Luiz's death.

He continued his police career until retiring with the rank of Major. In February 1931, Major Pereira Garro, at almost 80 years old, was appointed to a public office at the Casa da Moeda do Brasil, subordinated to the Ministry of Finance, with his retirement granted in February 1948.

On May 22, 1950, the then president of Brazil, Marshal Eurico Gaspar Dutra, sanctioned Law No. 1,109/1950, which granted a special pension to Luiz Hilário Pereira Garro, for his services to the country. In interviews he gave to newspapers at the time of his centenary, Pereira Garro stated that he loved living in this modern era and flying by plane.

Luiz Hilário Pereira Garro passed away in the city of Rio de Janeiro, on July 7, 1958, at the age of 107 years, 124 days, leaving his widowed wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.