When Walter Breuning died on April 15, a great repository of American history was lost. He was officially the oldest documented living person until he passed away at age 114. Born just a few years before the turn of the century – that is, the 20th century, he witnessed some of the greatest triumphs and tragedies of all of human history. Times of scarceness and plenty, suffering and joy, war and peace were all witnessed by this one man. His view of the development of this American culture would be a treasure trove for any recorder of social, poltical, and cultural change in this most American of centuries. It has been said that every time someone passes, an entire library of wisdom, experience, and insight disappears forever. It is the hope of this writer that someone was able to sit with him, ask a few questions, and then just listen.