Oldest Woman In The US Born In Early 1900s Dies Aged 115

Thelma Sutcliffe, the oldest woman in the US, has died peacefully at the age of 115 years and 108 days old.

She had reportedly been receiving hospice care when she died, with her friend Luella 'Lou' Mason saying, 'it was just time'.

Sutcliffe had become the oldest living person in the US in April 2021 after the death of Hester Ford aged either 115 (or 116,) and as of her 115th birthday in October that year she had been the fifth oldest person in the world.

Born in Nebraska on October 1,1906, Sutcliffe came into the world before two world wars, two global pandemics and while Teddy Roosevelt was president.

During her life, which began in the first decade of the 20th Century, she survived cancer twice and spent more than 50 years as a widow.

According to CNN, the secret of Sutcliffe's long life was never having children and never taking up smoking during her lifetime.

Her older sister Marie Kelso also enjoyed a long life, making it to 106 before passing away in 2011.

Robert Young, director of the Gerontology Research Group's Supercentenarian Research and Database Division, said Sutcliffe had always been known for her 'positive attitude about living' and never seemed to be 'worried about anything.

The oldest US-born person in the world is now Maria Branyas Morera, who was born in 1907 and currently lives in Spain, though it is not certain whether she still possesses American citizenship despite being born in California.

The world's oldest living person is Kane Tanaka, a Japanese woman who just turned 119 at the beginning of the year. She is the third oldest person in recorded history.

The oldest person ever recorded is Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 aged 122 and 164 days.

Sutcliffe's death comes just days after the passing of the oldest man in the world, Spain's Saturnino de la Fuente García who passed away aged 112.

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