Likely oldest man, 116, dies in Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A Ukraine farmer awaiting confirmation as the world's oldest man died at the age of 116 at his farm home in western Ukraine, Kiev media reported.

Kiev's Segodnya newspaper said Hryhoriy Nestor, died in his sleep Friday and friends and relatives held a small and simple ceremony Saturday.

He lived in a farmhouse with relatives, who said the former laborer had complained of a headache Friday and splashed his head with ice water, the BBC reported.

Family documents indicate he was born on March 15, 1891, although copies hadn't been submitted for verification to the Guinness Book of World Records, reports said.

The lifelong bachelor had requested no crying at his funeral but rather a meal of his favorite foods -- homemade sausages, warm potatoes with herring and cabbage, one of his relatives identified only as Oksana said.

"He didn't find himself a mate because he was a short man and never had money," Oksana said.

The world's recognized oldest living person is Edna Parker of the United States, who turned 114 in April.