One Of The World's Oldest Paperboys Dies After One Final Paper Route

Getting the mail just won't be the same for some southern Illinois residents, after the death of one of the world's oldest paperboys. Just shy of his 91st birthday, Benton Evening News paperboy Marvin Teel passed away Saturday, but not before finishing off one last route.

Teel was taken to the emergency room two weeks ago after he said he felt ill, but refused to go to the hospital before finishing off his route. "So even the day he went into the hospital, he delivered. He had a real work ethic. He believed if you said you were going to do something, you did it," his daughter Sherry Bullock told The Southern Illinoisan.

A WWII vet, Teel had dabbled around in other careers, from teaching to being a chemist, but had spent around 45 years as a mail carrier.

At 90, Teel believed he deserved the title of world's oldest paperboy, telling The Southern just last year that he was the rightful owner of the title, as he delivered five days a week, without fail on his Schwinn bike. The former Guinness Book record holder retired last year in England. That paperboy, who had been delivering papers since 1942, retired after 70 years on the job.

Though he would have been 91 next month, Bullock said Teel felt working kept him active and alert.

Teel is survived by his wife, Marilyn, four children, seven grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and one sister.