Charles Watson had just turned 94 years old, but he had no qualms about manning his snow blower during the height of Saturday's storm to clear the driveway at his Long Island home.
"He would like to get out and do a little bit," his son Terry Watson told NBC 4 New York on Sunday. "I would let him go out and make the first or second pass with the blower. He sat down and I'd work on it until he felt like he needed more exercise."
The elder Watson collapsed alongside his snow blower near the curb at his Kings Park home. Judy Recco, a neighbor, administered CPR and tried to revive him, but Watson didn't respond.
"Wish I could have done more," she said. "It's a big loss to the community. He's a tremendous man."
Watson was an Army veteran who survived World War II. He turned 94 last month and outlived 12 siblings, his son said.
"I'm going to miss him, but there's no doubt in my mind that he lead a full life," he said.
Watson was one of four people on Long Island who died clearing snow. A 75-year-old woman in Huntington Station, a 61-year-old man in West Hempstead and a Locust Valley man died shoveling snow, authorities said.
Local
One other Long Island resident, a 66-year-old Oyster Bay Cove, was killed Sunday when he was struck by a snow plow clearing his property.
Three men died shoveling show in New York City.
