Tomorrow marks the 115th Birthday of Besse Cooper. 115 Years young and counting.

To think she has witnessed the Industrial Revolution, Presidents from Cleveland to Obama, World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Korea, Space Race, Computer Age, Telephones, Television, Computers and the greatest evolution of change this planet has ever witnessed. With zest, a smile and a proclamation that she does not eat junk food, Besse will welcome another year with the same love of life she has had for over a century plus.

This is an event to remember, not just for Besse and her family but for all of us.

Take a moment to think about Besse tomorrow and if you are in Monroe, GA, stop by and wishing her another year of prosperity.

Provided by Associated Press:

A birthday party is planned at a north Georgia nursing home for Besse Cooper, who’s listed as the world’s oldest person.

Cooper will mark her 115th birthday Friday in Monroe. Family members and a researcher from the Guinness Book of World Records will attend the ceremony. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Cooper will receive a plaque from the organization that determines the oldest person in the world.
Cooper was declared the world’s oldest last January. In May, Guinness learned that Maria Gomes Valentin of Brazil was 48 days older. Valentin died June 21.

Cooper was born in Tennessee and moved to Georgia during World War I to find employment as a teacher. She has 12 grandchildren and more than a dozen great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Her husband, Luther, died in 1963.

Provided by http://www.worldrecordsacademy.org

MONROE, Ga., USA — Besse Cooper, who is 114 years and 5 months old and lives in a nursing home in Monroe, Ga., about 45 miles east of Atlanta.,assumed the mantle of the oldest living person after the death Monday of Eunice G. Sanborn of Jacksonville, Texas, according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, which certifies supercentenarians – people who are 110 or older.

She was born in Sullivan County, Tenn., on Aug. 26, 1896, during the second term of President Grover Cleveland.

The previous Guinness world record for the Oldest living person was set by Eunice Sanborn (Texas, USA, b. 20 July 1896).

Guinness World Records also recognized the oldest living man: Walter Breuning (USA), who was born 21 September 1896.

Cooper wears a string of pearls double-looped around her neck and spends her days sitting and sleeping. Her wheelchair has bright pink armrests embroidered with “Ms. Besse, 2010 114.”

One of eight children, she was a tomboy and loved tagging along with her two older brothers, climbing trees and splashing in rivers. She carried that active lifestyle and love of outdoors into adulthood. That, plus good genes, is probably the secret to her longevity, her son said.

She moved to Georgia to be a school teacher during World War I, her son said.

She married in the early 1920s and taught fourth through seventh grades in a two-room schoolhouse until her first child was born. Although she stopped teaching then, she was an avid reader until her eyes got too bad last year. She always insisted that her children get an education.

Married for about 40 years, Cooper has outlived her husband by nearly half a century. They had four children, about a dozen grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild, Sid Cooper said.

Cooper lived on her own until she was 105 and stubbornly resisted leaving her house, Sid Cooper said. Her health has declined steeply in the last year or so, and she can’t hear or see well, he said. Speaking seems to require effort.

“I mind my own business and I don’t eat junk food,” she said at her 113th birthday celebration, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

10 oldest living
1. Besse Cooper (USA) – 26 Aug. 1896 (114)
2. Walter Breuning (USA) – 21 Sept. 1896 (114)
3. Chiyono Hasegawa (JPN) – 20 Nov. 1896 (114)
4. Venere Pizzinato (ITA) – 23 Nov. 1896 (114)
5. Shige Hirooka (JPN) – 16 Jan. 1897 (114)
6. Dina Manfredini (ITA/USA) – 4 Apr. 1897 (113)
7. Jiroemon Kimura (JPN) – 19 Apr. 1897 (113)
8. Ella Schuler (USA) – 5 Sept. 1897 (113)
9. Delma Kollar (USA) – 31 Oct. 1897 (113)
10. Toshi Horiya (JPN) – 8 Nov. 1897 (113)