C. Conrad Johnson of Illinois, verified as the oldest man in the United States, died Tuesday at the age of 110.
Born in Sweden but a resident of Rockford since the age of 19, he died at the age of 110 years and 338 days.
He would have turned 111 on January 19.
Johnson had been in failing health since suffering a stroke in April.
When he turned 109, shortly before the stroke, he told a local Rockford newspaper he credited his longevity to daily exercise, a breakfast of oatmeal every day, daily payers and early bedtimes.
Jane McChesney, the reverend of the local Tabor Lutheran Church, where Johnson had been a member of the congregation since the 1930s, had fond memories of the career carpenter, calling him good-natured and a "a self-made man" and "very giving."
Johnson, who was married twice, never had children.
His first spouse passed away in 1988 from Parkinson's disease, and he lost his second wife in 2002.
Johnson, one of ten children, had many nephews and nieces, but he outlived almost all of them; his only survivor is one of his nephews, Edward Johnson of New Jersey.
Johnson had continued to live in his own home until turning 102, when he moved into a retirement community.
He had been in a nursing home since the April stroke.
He had been verified as the oldest American man, according the Robert Young, a senior database administrator for the national Gerontology Research Group, although there are several American women known to be older.
Johnson, who saw 19 United States presidents take office, became America's oldest man in June of this year following the death of Alexander Imich of New York who died on June 8 at the age of 111 years and 124 days.
With Johnson's passing, it is believed James Richardson of Phoenix City, Alabama, born on January 2 1904, is now the oldest American man.
The title of oldest man in the world belongs to Sakari Momoi of Japan, who will be 112 on February 5, 2015.
