Oldest Living Person Lives in Georgia
MONROE, GA: Guinness World Records representative Robert Young presents Besse Cooper with a Guinness World Records certificate as she celebrates her 116th birthday in Monroe, Ga on August 26, 2012. Ms. Cooper is the current Guinness World Record holder of the oldest living person title from June 21, 2011. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/for Guinness World … Continued
Jessica McGowan/Guinness World Records
The oldest living person in the world lives just outside Atlanta. And that’s official according to Guinness World Records.
Besse Cooper celebrated her 116th birthday on Sunday at a nursing home in Walton County.
On hand were Cooper’s four children and the Gerontology Consultant from Guinness World Records, Robert Young, who was part of the work to verify through documentary recordings that Cooper is, in fact, the world’s oldest living person.
It was a small celebration, but Cooper’s 77-year-old son, Sidney, says it was a happy one: “She was alert and saw her cake and talked to everyone and did well.”
Cooper says his mother takes her designation as the world’s oldest living person in stride, and Young – who has met several people who’ve held the title – says Cooper meets the typical profile of those who beat the odds and earn the record.
According to Young, “They tend to have a self-sufficiency, a self-reliance, a belief in themselves, and they don’t get overly stressed about things.”
And Besse Cooper’s son expects her to retain the title for a while. “She’s in good health and doing well, and we’ll probably have another birthday next year.”
In 1896, the year Besse Cooper was born, William McKinley was elected President, and Utah was admitted to the union as the 45th state.
9(MDAxODM0MDY4MDEyMTY4NDA3MzI3YjkzMw004))
Top Stories
