November
26, 2024
John
Tinniswood, the world’s oldest living man, has died at his care home on
Merseyside surrounded by “music and love”, his family said. He was 112.
John Tinniswood previously said that living to an advanced old age was ‘just luck’. Photograph: Guinness World Records/Reuters
The
former accountant was born on 26 August 1912, the same year that the Titanic
sank; the year the character Tarzan first appeared and the doomed Polar
explorer Captain Robert Scott wrote his last lines: “It seems a pity, but I do
not think I can write more – R. Scott – For God’s sake look after our people.”
It
was also 20 years after the founding of the football team he followed all his
life, Liverpool FC, meaning he lived through all eight of his club’s FA Cup
wins and 17 of their 19 league title wins.
Tinniswood
was verified as the world’s oldest living man in April, when he was 111. It
followed the death of 114-year-old Juan Vicente Pérez from Venezuela.
He
was asked many times what the secret was to his startlingly long life. “Just
luck,” he told Guinness World Records earlier this year. “You either live long
or you live short, and you can’t do much about it.”
But
it was also a life of moderation. “If you drink too much or you eat too much or
you walk too much, if you do too much of anything, you’re going to suffer
eventually,” he said.
Tinniswood
kept up with the news every day and managed his own finances.
The
only diet he ever followed, he said, was eating fish and chips every Friday but
he also conceded he just ate “what they give me”.
Tinniswood
had lived at the Hollies rest home in Southport since just before his 100th
birthday.
In
a statement, his family paid tribute to a man, they said, who had many fine
qualities.
“He
was intelligent, decisive, brave, calm in any crisis, talented at maths and a
great conversationalist,” they said. “His last day was surrounded by music and
love.
“John
always liked to say thank you. So on his behalf, thanks to all those who cared
for him over the years, including his carers at the Hollies care home, his GPs,
district nurses, occupational therapist and other NHS staff.”
Tinniswood
was born and brought up in Liverpool, meeting his wife, Blodwen, at a dance in
the city and marrying her in 1942, which he later recalled as one of his
fondest memories.
During
the war he served in the Royal Army Pay Corps, responsible for administering
finances, organising food supplies and locating stranded soldiers. He was the
world’s oldest surviving male veteran of the second world war.
He
went on to work as an accountant for Shell and BP before retiring in 1972.
Tinniswood
and his wife were married for 44 years before Blodwen died in 1986. He is
survived by his daughter Susan, four grandchildren and three
great-grandchildren.
Tinniswood
was a record holder but not the record holder. The oldest officially verified
man ever was Jiroemon Kimura from Japan, who lived to the age of 116 years 54
days and died in 2013.
The
world’s oldest living woman, and oldest living person, is Japan’s 116-year-old
Tomiko Itooka.
When
he was asked this year asked how the world had changed over his lifetime,
Tinniswood laughed and said: “It’s no better in my opinion, or hardly any
better, than it was then. Probably in some places it is, but in other places
it’s worse.
“The
world has gone smaller because of modern travel, principally caused by the
aeroplane. But since then, I can’t think of anything else that’s made the world
much different. That’s only my opinion. Otherwise, it’s about the same.”
His
advice for younger generations was: “Always do the best you can, whether you’re
learning something or whether you’re teaching someone.”
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