LAKELAND, Fla.  — The oldest living American man died Monday from heart failure. He was 113.

John McMorran, of Lakeland, considered coffee his elixir and quit cigars at age 97. He was born June 19, 1889, in a log cabin in Michigan. He was the fourth-oldest person in the world.

He briefly held the title of the nation's oldest person, but researchers confirmed Mary Christian of San Pablo, Calif., was born June 12, 1889, according to the California-based Gerontology Research Group, a nonprofit collection of volunteer demographers.

The oldest person in the world is 115-year-old Kamato Hongo of Japan. She was born Sept. 16, 1887, according to the research group.

McMorran's eyesight failed in his final years, and people needed to shout for him to hear them. Otherwise, relatives said, he enjoyed good health until last week, when he was taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center for complications related to pneumonia.

"He was never sick," a 35-year-old great-granddaughter, Lisa Saxton, told The Ledger of Lakeland. "He lived a great life. Obviously, he was well put together. He smoked cigars, drank beer and ate greasy food. He was an amazing man."