Gertrude Weaver, who just last week became the world's oldest-known living person, has died at the age of 116 at a senior care facility in Arkansas, officials said on Monday.
Weaver, who said the key to longevity was to treat people kindly, basked in her brief moment in the global spotlight. She enjoyed being read news articles about being the oldest person on the planet, said Kathy Langley, the administrator of the Silver Oaks Health & Rehabilitation Center in Camden, Arkansas.
“She certainly enjoyed it,'' Langley said. “We are devastated by her loss.''
Weaver was born on July 4, 1898, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which validates ages of the world's longest-living people.
The daughter of sharecroppers, Weaver was born in Arkansas near the Texas border and worked as a domestic helper.
The world's oldest known person is now Jeralean Talley of Inskter, Michigan, who was born on May 23, 1899 and will turn 116 next month, according to the group.
Misao Okawa, a Japanese woman who credited her longevity to “eating delicious things,'' had been the world's oldest living person until her death on April 1 at the age of 117.