Oldest living person in US, Elizabeth Francis, dies at 115

HOUSTON — The oldest living person in the U.S. has died at the age of 115.

Elizabeth Francis died peacefully Tuesday night surrounded by family.

Her 69-year-old granddaughter Ethel Harrison, told ABC News her grandmother was “a person who loved people.”

“She loved the Lord. Her faith was extremely strong. She was always, you know, jolly, you know, ‘How you doing? You’re doing okay?’ That was just her personality,” Harrison said.

Not only was Francis the oldest living person in the U.S., she was also the third-oldest person in the world, LongeviQuest said. She was also one of the 21 longest-living people in the nation’s history, USA Today reported.

Francis was considered a supercentenarian, or a person who was 110 or older. She credited her long life to not drinking, except for a rare glass of wine or smoking but eating “everything,” ABC News and USA Today reported.

Age was just a number for Francis. Last year in honor of her 114th birthday she spoke with KTRK, telling the television station she felt young at heart.

“I’m very, very young. Look at me. I’m like a little young chicken.” She started using a wheelchair when she was nearly 108 years old, USA Today reported.

Francis was born in 1909 in Louisiana. When her mother died, she and her five siblings were sent to different homes. She ended up living in Houston with her aunt.

She had her daughter in 1928 and was a single mother, running a coffee shop in Houston.

To put it in perspective, Francis lived through 20 Presidents, starting with President William Howard Taft, Fox News reported.

Inventions that were created after Francis was born, according to Thought Co. and Popular Mechanics, include:

• Life Savers candy (1912)
• Crossword puzzle (1913)
• Modern zipper (1913)
• Pyrex (1915)
• Radio tuners (1916)
• Stainless steel (1916)
• Pop-up toaster (1918)
• Band-Aid (1920)
• Robot (1921)
• Insulin (1922)
• Frozen food (1923)
• Pez (1927)
• Television (1927)
• Penicillin (1928)
• Mickey Mouse (1928)
• Polaroid (1932)
• Nylon (1935)
• Canned beer (1925)
• Photocopier (1937)
• Electronic digital computer (1942)
• Slinky (1943)
• Frisbee (1948)
• Velcro (1948)
• Cake mix (1949)
• Microwave oven (1954)
• Polio vaccine (1955)
• Birth control pill (1957)
• Pacemaker (1960)
• Cordless tools (1961)
• Communication satellites (1962)
• Integrated computer systems (1968)
• Fiber optics (1970)
• Barcodes (1974)
• Personal computers (1977)
• GPS (1978)
• Walkman (1979)
• Microsoft Word (1983)
• World Wide Web (1989)
• Photoshop (1990)
• DVDs (1996)
• Bluetooth (1999)
• Facebook (2004)
• iPhone (2007)

Francis wasn’t the only person in her family who crossed the 100-year milestone. Her older sister Bertha Johnson was 106 when she died in 2011.

As for who is the new oldest living person in the U.S., that honor goes to Naomi Whitehead who was born on Sept 26, 1910, making her 114, LongeviQuest said.

The world’s oldest living person is 116-year-old Tomiko Itooka of Japan, USA Today reported.

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