Name Benjamin Holcomb | Died December 2, 2000 | |
Benjamin Harrison Holcomb (July 3, 1889 in Kansas – December 2, 2000) was, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the oldest living man in 2000 although his title was later superseded by older cases. He was the son of Chestnut Wade Holcomb and Nancy Sarah Jane Sharp
He put his longevity down to his ability to "weep freely", which he said stopped him ever getting stressed, and regular glasses of "good wine". He lived most of his life in Oklahoma, where he farmed every day until his retirement in 1996 aged 107. He spent the last years of his life in a nursing home being cared for by three of his five children, all in their eighties.
Holcomb had 5 children, 9 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and 9 great-great-grandchildren. In 1998, aged 109, he became the oldest known man to stalk and shoot a deer. He died on December 2, 2000.