George Francis lived through three centuries and was witness to everything that occurred during that time. Francis lived through both world wars (World War 1 and World War 2), as well as the advent of the automobile, the telephone, the television, computers, and the election of the first black president in U.S. history.
Francis was born in New Orleans in 1896 and was brought up under the repression of the Jim Crow South. He was denied the right to fight in World War I because of his race. He would quit school in the sixth grade to start boxing and would eventually become a chauffeur, an auto mechanic and a barber. His wife died of cancer in 1964.
Francis is survived by his four children - three daughters and a son. He also has 18 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren, and 16 great-great-grandchildren. Those kinds of numbers must make family gatherings especially interesting.
His son, Anthony Francis, said that his family always attributed his father's longevity to his physical and mental toughness. He also said that his father was especially excited about the election of Barack Obama and he explained in recent interviews that he was a strong believer in the peoples' duty to vote in America.
Now that George Francis has died, the oldest man in America is Walter Breuning of Montana. Breuning is 112 years and 98 days old. The world's oldest person is Maria de Jesus of Portugal - she is 115 years and 109 days old.
George Francis, the nation's oldest man, who lived through both world wars, man's first walk on the moon and the election of the first black president, died Saturday of congestive heart failure in Sacramento, Calif. He was 112. UCLA gerontologist Dr. Stephen Coles, who maintains a list of the world's oldest people, said Francis lived 112 years and 204 days. With Francis' death, Walter Breuning, of Montana, who is 112 years, 98 days old, becomes the country's oldest living man. The world's oldest person is Maria de Jesus, of Portugal, who is 115 years, 109 days old, Coles said.
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