Oldest Person Dies in Georgia at 116
A woman listed in the Guinness World Records as the oldest women on earth has died in a Georgia nursing home at the age of 116.
Besse Cooper pasted away on Tuesday in the town of Monroe, about 50 miles east of Atlanta, according to her son, Sidney Cooper.
Cooper revealed that his mother had been receiving treatment for a stomach ailment and was showing signs of improvement, but unfortunately soon after she began to have trouble breathing, was put on oxygen, but passed later that afternoon.
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Besse Cooper received the mark of world's oldest person in January 2011. Yet, in May 2011, officials with Guinness World Records discovered that Maria Gomes Valentin of Brazil was 48 days older. Cooper's title was soon returned as Valentin died a few weeks after.
"It's a sad day for me," Robert Young, Guinness senior consultant for gerontology, told the Associated Press.
He remembers talking with Cooper when she was 111 and was impressed with her mental ability.
"At that age she was doing really well, she was able to read books," he said.
Sidney Cooper said his family will likely hold a funeral for his mother later this week.
Records show that she was born in Tennessee in 1896 and moved to Georgia during World War I to look for work as a teacher, according to AP.
Cooper was married to her husband, Luther, in 1924, and they had four children. Guinness stated that she had 12 grandchildren and more than a dozen great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.
The oldest known person in the world now is 115-year-old Dina Manfredini, of Johnston, Iowa, Young said. The oldest person ever recorded was Jeanne Calment of France, who lived to the age of 122 years and 164 days.
When Cooper was interviewed by Guinness World Records when she turned 116 she was asked her secret to longevity and she simply stated: "I mind my own business and I don't eat junk food."
