Walter Breuning was born in 1896 and put his longevity down to eating just two meals a day and working for as long as he could

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

Walter Breuning, the world's oldest man and second-oldest person, has died aged 114.

Breuning died of natural causes in a Montana hospital, said a spokeswoman for the Rainbow retirement home where he lived. Breuning was admitted to hospital at the beginning of April with an undisclosed illness.

Breuning was 26 days younger than Besse Cooper of Georgia, whom the Gerontology Research Group in Los Angeles lists as the world's oldest person.

In an interview last autumn, Breuning attributed his longevity to eating just two meals a day, working as long as he could and always embracing change, especially death.

"We're all going to die. Some people are scared of dying. Never be afraid to die. Because you're born to die," he said.

Breuning was born on 21 September 1896, in Minnesota and spent his early life in South Dakota. His family had no electricity or running water.

He lied about his age and got a job in Minnesota with the Great Northern Railway in 1913 at age 16. He moved to Montana two years later and worked on the railway for 50 years – the rest of his working life. He married his work colleague Agnes Twokey in 1922 and stayed with her until her death in 1957. The couple had no children and Breuning never remarried.

He earned $90 a month – working seven days a week – at the beginning of his career. He said this amount was "a lot of money at that time".

In 1919, he bought his first car, a $150 secondhand Ford, which Breuning remembered spooking the horses when he drove around the streets of Great Falls.

He and his wife bought property for $15 and hoped to build a house, but their plans never came to fruition because of the Great Depression.

"Everybody got laid off in the 1930s," Breuning said. "Nobody had any money at all. In 1933, they built the civic centre over here. Sixty-five cents an hour, you know. That was the wage, big wage."

Breuning remained in his job until 1963 – the year the Beatles released their first album – when he decided to retire at the age of 67. But he kept working, becoming the manager and secretary for the local Shriners, a group similar to the Freemasons, a position he held until he was 99.

He moved into the Rainbow retirement community in 1980, calling home a spare studio apartment with bare walls.

Breuning would spend his days in an armchair outside the retirement home director's office in a suit and tie, sitting near a framed Guinness certificate proclaiming him the world's oldest man.

He would eat breakfast and lunch and then retire to his room in the early afternoon. He would visit the doctor twice a year for check-ups and the only medication he would take was aspirin, director Tina Bundtrock said.

With most of his relatives gone, Breuning said his real family was there in the Rainbow. He received letters from admirers from around the world, and he kept up with world events.

"Everybody says your mind is the most important thing about your body. Your mind and your body. You keep both busy, and by God you'll be here a long time," Breuning said.