'America's Oldest Man' Dies In Riverside County, Coroner Confirms

Riverside County coroner's officials confirmed the death on Wednesday of "America's Oldest Man." Clarence Lawrence Matthews, who held the title given by the Gerontology Research Group for more than a year, was 111 years old.

Matthews died Saturday night at his home in the 7600 block of Road Runner Drive in Indian Wells, according to the coroner's department.

Matthews was born in Oakland on May 1, 1906 — less than a month after the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake which devastated the region. He had lived in the Coachella Valley for more than 40 years.

He reportedly died after suffering a stroke and was remembered by family for his generosity and love of golf.

"I started bracing myself when he was 90," his son Steve Matthews told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Most people I’ve ever known, if you lived to be 90, you were an old man. Well, that was silly — he just kept going for another 20 years."

Following his death, Richard Overton, a Texas resident who is also 111, takes over as the nation's oldest living man, according to the Gerontology Research Group. Overton was born 10 days after Matthews.

It's important to note that Matthews was considered the oldest man in America — the title for the oldest person in America goes to Delphine Gibson of Pennsylvania, who is 113. The research group says that women tend to live longer than men, and 39 of the 40 oldest living people in the world are female.

Funeral services for Matthews are pending.

Image via Shutterstock / City News Service contributed to this report