obitoftheday:

Obit of the Day: The Oldest Man in the U.S.

Shelby Lewis was born on the 90th day of the 20th century; just four weeks after the inauguration of President William McKinley. A native of Indiana, Mr. Lewis moved to Rock Island, Illinois after World War II and lived there for the remainder of his days.

He served as a church deacon until he was 102. He lived alone “with some help” until he was 105. And this spring, just after his 111th birthday, Mr. Harris threw out the first pitch for the minor league Quad-Cities River Bandits. (Not the first supercentenarian to throw out the ball at a ball game. Check out Walter Bruening who threw out the first pitch in Montana at the age of 110.)

At the time of his death, Mr. Harris’ youngest grandson 56. He also had great-great-great grandchildren.

Note: The world’s oldest man is Jiroemon Kimura, who is 115 years old as of this post. Besse Cooper of Georgia (U.S.) is the oldest living person and will turn 116 on August 26, 2012, the Lord willing. Mr. Harris was the 51st oldest person in the world when he passed away.

Additional sources: chicagotribune.com, www.army.mil, and wikipedia.org

(Image  is copyright John Greenwood, Moline Dispatch/Rock IslIrmand Argus, July 29, 2012 and courtesy of chicagotribune.com)

Other supercentenarians featured on Obit of the Day:

Irma Schmidt, 112, oldest resident of Connecticut

Wesley E. Brown, 104, oldest sitting judge in the U.S.

Delma Kollar, 114, fourth oldest person in the world

Buster Marting, 104, “world’s oldest” marathoner

Flossie Carter, 111, Pittsburgh’s oldest sports fan

Leila Denmark, 114, world’s oldest physician (OOTD personal favorite)

Florence Sorrell Smith, 107, world’s oldest leap year baby