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A Montana resident believed to be the
world's oldest man celebrated his 114th birthday Tuesday at a
retirement home in Great Falls.


      Walter Breuning was born on Sept. 21, 1896, in Melrose, Minn.,
and moved to Montana in 1918, where he worked as a clerk for the
Great Northern Railway for 50 years.


      His wife, Agnes, a railroad telegraph operator from Butte, died
in 1957. The couple had no children.


      Breuning inherited the distinction of being the world's oldest
man in July 2009 when Briton Henry Allingham died at age 113.
Allingham had joked that the secret to long life was "Cigarettes,
whisky and wild, wild women - and a good sense of humor,"
according to Guinness World Records.


      Breuning was to give a speech at an invitation-only birthday
party at the Rainbow Retirement Community in downtown Great Falls,
where he lives, with a guest list that includes Montana Gov. Brian
Schweitzer and representatives from Guinness World Records.


      Breuning has celebrity status at the retirement home, with
visitors waiting in line to see him, Ray Milversted, 92, told The
Great Falls Tribune.


      Tina Bundtrock, executive director of the Rainbow, said the home
has adopted a policy of scheduling visits with Breuning by
appointment, so he's not taxed by people dropping in to see him.


      Gavin Seeberger recalled how his father, former Great Falls
banker John Seeberger, tried to persuade Breuning in the mid-1990s
to purchase a two-year certificate of deposit instead of a
five-year CD. Breuning had come into the bank to take advantage of
a special rate on five-year CDs, and he insisted that he would be
there to collect it in person at age 105 when it matured.


      And he did, Gavin Seeberger told the Great Falls newspaper.


      "That is being sure of one's self," he said.
      

Gallery

A Montana resident believed to be the
world's oldest man is celebrating his 114th birthday.

Minn. native marks 114th birthday as world's oldest man

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