'Liked to have a little drink'
A Brazilian purported to be the world’s oldest living man has died at the age of 127.
Jose Paulino Gomes passed away Friday — one week shy of turning 128 — at his home in Pedra Bonita, a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, according to media reports.
His family said Gomes died of organ failure, likely due to his advanced age. He was laid to rest Saturday at the Corrego dos Fialhos Cemetery in Pedra Bonita.
According to his 1917 marriage certificate from Pedra Bonita’s registry office, Gomes was born on Aug. 4, 1895, making him a survivor of both World Wars and three global pandemics.
Willyan Jose Rodrigues de Souza, a legal adviser for the civil registry, confirmed to a local outlet that Gomes’ age was accurate, noting he was born before 1900.
Jose Paulino Gomes died Friday — one week shy of turning 128 — at his home in Pedra Bonita, a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, according to media reports. Newsflash
According to the civil registry, Gomes was born on Aug. 4, 1895, and married in 1917. Newsflash
However, his family is not completely confident of his age, citing several local cases of incorrect documentation.
“There is a lady nearby who is 98 years old. She says she knew him when he was just a boy. That’s when we became curious to confirm his age and looked up the registry office to find out what was correct,” Gomes’ granddaughter, Eliane Ferreira, told local media.
“He definitely was over 100 years old, at least 110. Now we need to know how it will be recorded on the death certificate.”
It’s unclear whether his paperwork will be examined and verified by Guinness World Records, which claims that 116-year-old María Branyas Morera of Spain is the world’s oldest living person. She was born on March 4, 1907.
Venezuela’s Juan Vicente Perez Mora, 114, has been verified by Guinness to be the world’s oldest living man.
The Post reached out to Guinness for comment.
Gomes used to work as an animal tamer, according to his family, who said he was riding horses until four years ago.
“He was very simple, very humble. His uniqueness was that he didn’t like anything industrialized, only things from the countryside, natural. He raised chickens, pigs … His food was all from here, had to be grown or raised here. And he always liked to have a little drink,” Ferreira said.
A widower, Gomes leaves behind seven children, 25 grandchildren, 42 great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren.
Source: New York Post
