Jens Peter Westergaard, Denmark’s oldest man ever, dies at 110
The Gerontology Research Group is saddened to report news that Mr. Jens Peter Westergaard, the oldest man ever in Denmark, sadly died in in Fredericia, Southern Denmark, Denmark on 23 July 2024 at the age of 110 years, 88 days.
Jens Peter Westergaard was born in Odense, Southern Denmark, Denmark on 26 April 1914. During his childhood, he contracted the Spanish flu but made a full recovery.
In 1944 he married Gerda Nygaard Pedersen in Odense. This marriage would last for 25 years before Gerda’s death. He would later remarry, getting engaged with another woman named Inge, with whom this marriage would last for 17 years before her death. After the death of his second wife he was in a relationship with a third woman named Nina, who also died 17 years after they met, although they never married.
He managed public transportation in his city, and oversaw the transition from trams to buses in Odense. He retired at age 70.
At the age of 104, when asked if he ever thought about the future, he replied that he had experienced everything he wanted to in life, and was against the idea of doctors trying to prolong his life. He stated that while he was content with his life in old age, he did miss being able to ride his bicycle.
He became the oldest living man in Denmark and Nordic region, following the death of 108-year-old Eloff Gyldvig Rasmussen on 9 October 2020.
He became the oldest living person in Southern Denmark region, following the death of 108-year-old Grethe Pedersen on 18 February 2021.
On 28 March 2024, he surpassed the final age of Georg Jensen (1906–2016) of 109 years, 336 days, becoming the oldest man to ever reside in Denmark, despite this he is not the oldest man ever born in Denmark, because Christian Mortensen (1882–1998) died in the USA at the age of 115 years, 252 days.
His age was verified by Waclaw Jan Kroczek, Robert Young and Dejan Vujic, and validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) on 26 May 2024.
At the time of his death, he was the second-oldest living person in Denmark, behind 110-year-old Kirsten Schwalbe. He was also the oldest living man in Nordic region and the last surviving Danish man born before 1918 as well as the last known surviving Nordic man born before 1916.
Following his death, the new oldest living man in Denmark is 106-year-old Knud Gustav Krejsgaard (born 31 January 1918) of Solhjem, Melby, Capital Region of Denmark, and the new oldest living man in Nordic region is 107-year-old Dumitru Curta (born 26 October 1916) of Kalarne, Jämtland, Sweden.
