U.S.'s oldest living man, Richard Overton, dies at 112

Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Richard Overton, the oldest living man in the United States, died Thursday afternoon at age 112 in Austin, Texas.

Overton, who also was the oldest War War II veteran, had been treated for pnuemonia at a rehabilitation facility.

"We are thankful for everything he's done for the family, for the world," Volma Overton, his third cousin, tearfully told the Dallas Morning News. "We're going to miss him."

Overton was born on May 11, 1906, the year of the first wireless radio broadcast.

During World War II, he was stationed with the all-black Army's 188th Aviation Engineer Battalion on various islands in the Pacific.

"He was there at Pearl Harbor when the battleships were still smoldering. He was there at Okinawa. He was there at Iwo Jima, where he said. 'I only got out of there by the grace of God,'" former President Barack Obama said while honoring Overton at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in 2013.

After the war, he worked at furniture stores and then Texas Department of Treasury.

For 70 years he lived at a home be built. The street was renamed Richard Overton Avenue for his 111th birthday. On a front porch, Overton smoked his 12 daily cigars.

In December 2016, a GoFundMe page started by a family member raised $450,00 to pay for his 24/7 in-home care.

At 106, he was still driving vehicles.

"I still walk, I still talk, and I still drive," Overton said during short documentary in 2015, then hopping into his Ford F100 Custom pickup truck.

Comedian Steve Harvey once asked him his secret to old age.

"Just keep living, don't die," he responded.

He told CNN in 2013 that he didn't take any medicine.

"I drink whiskey in my coffee. Sometimes I drink it straight," he said when he was 107. "I smoke my cigars, blow the smoke out; I don't swallow it."

As part of the documentary, he said: "I eat ice cream every night. It makes me happy."

In April, he toured the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., arriving there on his first private jet ride.

In June, an identity thief emptied his bank account.

The oldest woman alive is 114-year-old Lessie Brown of suburban Cleveland, born Sept. 22, 1904, according to Gerontology Research Group.