World's Oldest Man Dies at 114 in Spain

[TexasStooge]

MADRID, Spain (Reuters) - A retired Spanish shoemaker who was officially the world's oldest man has died at his home at the age of 114, his family said on Saturday.

The Guinness World Records recognized Joan Riudavets Moll as the world's oldest man following the death of Japan's Yukichi Chuganji, also 114, in September. Riudavets, who attributed his longevity to a life of moderation, was born on Dec. 15, 1889 -- the year Adolf Hitler and Charlie Chaplin were born and the year the Eiffel Tower was completed.

He had been retired for half a century.

He died at home in Es Migjorn Gran on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Menorca on Friday night, a police spokesman there said.

"I spoke to him a few days ago and he had all his faculties," the spokesman said. "He spoke and reasoned perfectly well without any problems. It was a natural death; he had not been ill."

Riudavets' grandson said he was still taking walks at the end of his life and was always surrounded by friends.

"He nearly always had people around him and he had a great gift for words," his eldest grandson, Pablo, told Reuters. "There were a lot of anecdotes."

Riudavets, who joined the family shoe-making business and retired in 1954, lived to see huge advances in medicine and science, but he never stopped marveling at inventions like the airplane -- first flown when he was a teenager -- and electricity.

"The airplane was something incredible, but the most important change was electricity -- without doubt, it changed everything," the Guinness Web site quoted him as saying.

He attributed his long life to doing everything in moderation, including smoking "but not too much." He used to sleep up to 14 hours a day but also enjoyed playing football and the guitar.

Trini Pinto Alvarez, who lives in the village, said: "He was a shoemaker, he worked hard, had a good life ... Everybody knew him. When he had birthdays, the village threw fiestas."

[JCT777]

He definitely lived a long and fulfilling life. May he rest in peace.

[azskyman]

I don't know about you guys, but almost every Centegenarian I have seen on TV or in person has been in a very bad state of life. What quality exists is related to the tiny world they live in.

I, for one, prefer a quality of life as opposed to a quantity of life. If I reach 100, I sure hope I can do something besides sleep in a chair, eat soft foods, and purge my system.

Congrats to this person on making the journey, but my gosh, what a downhill trip it is after a certain point.