Shelby Harris is an American supercentenarian. At , he is currently the oldest living resident of Illinois and the oldest man in the United States. The record for Illinois' oldest person is held by 114 year old Wilhelmina Kott. On 24 October 2011, aged 110 years 207 days he became one of 100 oldest men ever.

Biography

Harris was born on the state of Indiana. He grew up in southern Indiana in a town called Ayrshire. During his youth, he started working in the coal mines in that area until he was offered a job at the Union Malleable (now John Deere) foundry. At the age of 41, Harris joined the army to serve in World war II, but due to a broken ankle, he did not make it out of boot camp. By that time, he was separated from his wife and children.

Harris actively served as a deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 for his church up until he was 102, and entered a Rock Island nursing home by the time he was 105. He is a great-great-great-grandfather. His youngest grandson is 56 years old. Harris is seemingly a lifelong Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 voting for John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

 in 1960 and Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 in 2008.

Longevity attributes

He credits his longevity to God, and his grandson says he takes good care of himself and still has a good memory. When Harris signed up for the war, his height and weight were recorded as 5 in 10 in (1.78 m) and 134 pounds (60.8 kg), a body mass index

Body mass index

The body mass index , or Quetelet index, is a heuristic proxy for human body fat based on an individual's weight and height. BMI does not actually measure the percentage of body fat. It was invented between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing...

of 19.2.