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Richard Arvin Overton (May 11, 1906 – December 27, 2018) was an American
supercentenarian A supercentenarian, sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian, is a person who is 110 or older. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of significant age-related diseases until short ...
who at the age of 112 years, 230 days was the oldest verified surviving U.S.
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
veteran and oldest man in the United States. He served in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
. In 2013, he was honored by President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
. He resided in
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, from 1945 until his death in 2018.


Early life and education

Overton was born in
Bastrop County, Texas Bastrop County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in Central Texas and its county seat is Bastrop, Texas, Bastrop. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 97,216. Bastrop County is included in the ...
, to Gentry Overton Sr. and Elizabeth Franklin Overton Waters. Overton's great-great-grandfather was American judge and presidential advisor John Overton. Through this ancestor he was a cousin of civil-rights activist Volma Robert Overton and of William R. Dickinson.


Military and civilian career

Overton enlisted in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
on September 3, 1940, at
Fort Sam Houston Fort Sam Houston is a United States Army, U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas. "Fort Sam Houston, TX • About Fort Sam Houston" (overview), US Army, 2007, webpageSH-Army. Known colloquially as "Fort Sam", it is named for the first president o ...
, Texas. He served in the
South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
from 1940 through 1945, including stops in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
,
Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
,
Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...
, and
Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...
. He left the U.S. Army in October 1945 as a
technician fifth grade Technician fifth grade (abbreviated T/5 or Tec 5) was a rank of the United States Army from 1942 to 1948. The rank was created to recognize enlisted soldiers with special technical skills, but who were not trained as combat leaders. History ...
. Overton worked at local furniture stores before taking a position with the Texas Department of the Treasury (now part of the
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is an executive branch position created by the Texas Constitution. The comptroller is popularly elected every four years, and is primarily tasked with collecting all state tax revenue and estimating the a ...
) in Austin. He was married twice but did not have any children.


Later years

Overton gained media attention during the 2013
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...
weekend when he told
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he would spend his Memorial Day "smoking cigars and drinking whiskey-stiffened coffee." Overton had been known to smoke about a dozen cigars a day. On that same Memorial Day, Overton met with
Texas Governor The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constitut ...
Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...
. Overton was also invited to the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
where he met with President Barack Obama, and to the Veterans Day ceremony at
Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...
, where he was singled out by name for praise by the President. During an
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
game between the
San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
and the
Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...
on March 24, 2017, Overton was honored during a half-time break. Overton is the subject of a 2016 documentary, '' Mr. Overton'', in which he is interviewed about his daily routine, thoughts on his longevity, and his military service. On May 3, 2016, he became the oldest surviving American veteran after the death of Frank Levingston. On May 11, 2016, Overton became a supercentenarian. Following the death of Clarence Matthews (born May 1, 1906) on July 22, 2017, Overton became the oldest living American man. Overton was hospitalized for
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
in December 2018. He was placed in a rehabilitation center, where he died on December 27, 2018, aged 112 years and 230 days.


Military awards


Personal life

Overton lived in Austin, Texas. On December 11, 2014,
Austin Community College The Austin Community College District (ACC) is a public community college system serving the Austin, Texas, metropolitan area and surrounding Central Texas communities. The college maintains numerous campuses, centers, and distance learning opti ...
recognized Overton with an honorary associate degree, the college's highest distinction. He was a Member of the Church of Christ and attended church regularly. On July 1, 2018, it was reported that Overton became a victim of
identity theft Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...
. A suspect of unknown origin opened a fake banking account with Overton's
Social Security number In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to United States nationality law, U.S. citizens, Permanent residence (United States), permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2 ...
, accessed his personal checking account, and used the money to gather
savings bonds A savings bond is a government bond designed to provide funds for the issuer while also providing a relatively safe investment for the purchaser to save money, typically a retail investor. The earliest savings bonds were the war bond programs of Wor ...
. Overton also had a
GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the ...
account which raised over $420,000 for his in-home care. On July 5, 2018, Overton's family announced that
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
had restored the funds to his account. After his death, a portion of Airport Boulevard in Austin was named in his honor.


See also

*
List of American supercentenarians American supercentenarians are citizens or residents of the United States who have attained or surpassed 110 years of age. By January 2015, the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) had validated the longevity claims of 782 American supercentenarians ...
*
List of the verified oldest people These are lists of the 100 known verified oldest women and men sorted in descending order by age in years and days. The oldest person ever whose age has been independently verified is Jeanne Calment Jeanne Louise Calment (; 21 February 18 ...


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Overton, Richard Arvin 1906 births 2018 deaths African-American Christians African-American centenarians American men centenarians United States Army personnel of World War II American people of English descent American supercentenarians Deaths from pneumonia in Texas Men supercentenarians Military personnel from Texas People from Austin, Texas People from Bastrop County, Texas United States Army non-commissioned officers African Americans in World War II 21st-century African-American people