Richard Overton, America’s oldest man and WWII vet, dies at 112

Richard Overton, America’s oldest man and oldest-living veteran, died in Texas on Thursday, according to local reports. He was 112.

Overton, who lived in Austin, was a jovial figure in his neighborhood and was known to enjoy a glass of whisky and a cigar despite his advanced age.

On his birthdays, neighbors and people from all over Central Texas would come to his house to bring him gifts and celebrate with him, The Austin Statesman reported.

“It looks like everybody’s getting ready to take a picture with Santa Claus — and he never turns anyone down,” his cousin, Volma Overton, told the newspaper.

“He’s an open person to everybody and he wanted everyone who was in town who wanted to come by, to come by.”

Overton was born in 1906 and was deployed to the Pacific Theater during World War II, serving in Guam and Iwo Jima, according to the report.

In 2013, he met President Obama and Vice President Biden at the White House. That year, the city of Austin also declared his birthday “Richard A. Overton Day,” the Statesman reported.