World's oldest woman dies aged 116 in Georgia



The woman who was listed as the world's oldest person died Tuesday in a Georgia nursing home at age 116.

Besse Cooper died peacefully Tuesday afternoon in Monroe, according to her son Sidney Cooper. Monroe is about 45 miles east of Atlanta.



Cooper said his mother had been ill recently with a stomach virus.



Aging secrets: Ms Cooper, the oldest living woman in the world, died Tuesday at 116. Her secret to living so long? 'I mind my own business, and I don't eat junk food,' she once said Passing peacefully: Her son said Ms Cooper died peacefully after having her hair done and watching a Christmas video

On Tuesday, however, she was feeling better and had her hair done and was watching a Christmas video when she had trouble breathing.

Ms Cooper was put on oxygen in her room where she died about 2 p.m., Mr Cooper said.



'With her hair fixed it looked like she was ready to go,' he said.

Besse Cooper was declared the world's oldest person in January 2011. In May 2011, Guinness World Records learned that Maria Gomes Valentin of Brazil was 48 days older. Valentin died the next month.



'It's a sad day for me,' said Robert Young, Guinness senior consultant for gerontology. He recalls meeting Cooper when she was 111 and took note of her mental agility.



'At that age she was doing really well, she was able to read books,' he said.



Princess: Ms Cooper celebrates her 114th birthday with a senior consultant for Guinness World Records standing near

Kiss farewell: Paul Cooper, Ms Cooper's grandson, gives her a kiss on her forehead

Last year on Cooper's 115th birthday, she celebrated with friends and relatives, enjoyed two small slivers of birthday cake and was serenaded by a musician from Nashville who sang 'Tennessee Waltz.'



Besse Cooper was the first Georgian to hold the world record. She was born in Tennessee and moved to Georgia during World War I to look for work as a teacher.

According to Guinness only eight people have ever reached 116. She's held the title of oldest living person since 2011.

Her secret to living so long? The day she turned 116, she told Guinness, 'I mind my own business,' Cooper said. 'And I don't eat junk food.'



At her birthday, Mr Cooper said, 'the older she has gotten the more wittier she has gotten.'

Record winner: Jeanne Calment, believed to be the world's oldest person, died in 1997 at the age of 122 in Arles, France