Nov 26, 2014 1 min read

JERMYN (AP) – A northeast Pennsylvania banker and philanthropist who often credited having an unlisted phone number as the key to becoming one of the oldest people in the world died.

A funeral director said Leo Moskovitz died Monday at 109. He would’ve celebrated his 110th birthday Dec. 8.

Moskovitz founded First National Bank of Jermyn and served as its president until 1993. The University of Scranton commemorated Moskovitz’s support by naming the theater at its DeNaples Center for him and wife Ann.

Moskovitz joked he lived so long because God couldn’t find his name in the phone book. He also said he ate either oatmeal or eggs for breakfast, but wasn’t sure if that’s why he’s lived so long.

If he knew the secret, he said, he’d patent it.