Local News

World’s oldest man passes at 112

26 November 2024
This content originally appeared on Barbados Nation News.

The world’s oldest living man has died at the age of 112, his family have confirmed.

John Alfred Tinniswood died on Monday at the Southport care home where he lived.

The lifelong Liverpool football fan became the world’s oldest living man in April this year, when Juan Vicente Pérez Mora died at the age of 114.

His family said Tinniswood’s final day was “surrounded by music and love”.

Tinniswood, who was born on August 26, 1912, the same year the Titanic sank, became the UK’s oldest man in 2020.

He was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest man in April 2024.

Born to Ada and John Bernard Tinniswood, Tinniswood, a widower, leaves behind a daughter, Susan, grandchildren Annouchka, Marisa, Toby and Rupert, and great-grandchildren Tabitha, Callum and Nieve.

In a statement, his family said he “had many fine qualities”.

“He was intelligent, decisive, brave, calm in any crisis, talented at maths, and a great conversationalist.”

They added, these qualities served him well during his military service in the Royal Army Pays Corps during World War Two, where – in addition to accounts and auditing – his work involved logistical tasks, such as locating stranded soldiers and organising food supplies.

He met his wife, Blodwen, at a dance in Liverpool, and they married in 1942.

Susan was born in 1943, and the couple enjoyed 44 years together before Mrs Tinniswood died in 1986.

After World War Two, he worked for Royal Mail and, later, as an accountant for Shell and BP, before retiring in 1972.

His family said he had an ” active retirement”, volunteering as a church elder in Blundellsands United Reform Church where he also gave sermons. (BBC)