Besse Cooper
| Besse Cooper | |
|---|---|
 Cooper on her 116th birthday in August 2012 |
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| Born | Besse Berry Brown August 26, 1896 Sullivan County, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | December 4, 2012 (aged 116 years, 100 days)[1][2][3] Monroe, Georgia, U.S. |
| Alma mater | East Tennessee State Normal School (graduated 1916) |
| Occupation | Teacher (retired 1929) |
| Known for | Oldest living person in the world from June 2011 until her death, and last verified surviving person born in 1896 |
| Political party | Republican Party[4] |
| Spouse(s) | Luther Harris Cooper (1895–1963) (m. 1924–w. 1963) |
| Children | Four: Angeline Tharp Luther H, Jr (Betty) Sidney (Edith) Nancy (Louis) Morgan |
| Parents | Richard Brown and Angeline Berry |
| Relatives | 11 grandchildren 13 great-grandchildren 2 great-great-grandchildren (as of 2012)[5] |
Besse Berry Cooper (née Brown; August 26, 1896 – December 4, 2012)[1][3] was an American supercentenarian who was the world's oldest living person from June 21, 2011 until her death. She was, at the time of her death, one of only eight people verified to have lived to the age of 116 or more.[6]
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Early life, education and career [edit]
Cooper was born Besse Berry Brown in Sullivan County, Tennessee, on August 26, 1896, the third of eight children born to Richard Brown (1861–1932) and Angeline Berry (1866–1927).[7] As a child, she was a keen scholar who read constantly.[4] She graduated from East Tennessee State Normal School (now East Tennessee State University) in 1916, and worked as a schoolteacher in Tennessee before moving to Georgia around the time of the American entry into World War I in 1917.[8] She taught in Between, Georgia, until 1929.
Later life [edit]
She married Luther Cooper (1895–1963) in 1924, and had four children with him – Angeline (b. 1929), Luther, Jr., (b. 1932), Sidney (b. 1935), and Nancy (b. 1944). Luther died aged 68 in December 1963. Following her husband's death, Cooper lived alone on their farm until 2001, when she moved into a nursing home at the age of 105.[9][10]
Longevity [edit]
Cooper became Georgia's oldest resident on January 19, 2009, following the death of 113-year-old Beatrice Farve.[9] Cooper was additionally the second-oldest verified person from Tennessee, after Elizabeth Bolden, who died in December 2006, aged 116 years 118 days. She reputedly attributed her longevity to "minding her own business" and avoiding junk food.[11]
At the time of her 116th birthday in August 2012, Cooper had four children, 11 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.[5][12] She spent her final years in a nursing home in Monroe, Georgia.[13] In July 2012, a proposal was advanced to name a Georgia bridge in Cooper's honor; a bridge in Between was named Besse Brown Cooper Bridge on August 24, 2012.[6][14][15][16]
See also [edit]
- Centenarian
- List of oldest people by year of birth
- List of supercentenarians from the United States
- List of supercentenarians who died in 2012
- List of the verified oldest people
- List of the verified oldest women
- Oldest people
References [edit]
- ^ a b "World's oldest woman dies". Walton Tribune. December 4, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
- ^ "World's Oldest Woman Dies at 116". Loganville-Grayson Patch. December 4, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- ^ a b "World's 'oldest person' Besse Cooper dies aged 116". BBC. December 5, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- ^ a b Dennis, Joe (August 29, 2004). "Cooper marks 108th birthday". Walton Tribune. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
- ^ a b Milligan, Stephen (August 29, 2012). "Cooper continues to make history". Walton Tribune. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
- ^ a b Swanepoel, Sharon (August 26, 2012). "Sweet 116th Birthday Wishes to the World's Oldest Living Person". Loganville-Grayson Patch. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
- ^ Associated Press (March 9, 2010). "Oldest American dies". Chicago Tribune. p. 3.
- ^ Brooks, James (February 1, 2011). "World's oldest person is a graduate of what is now ETSU". Johnson City Press. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
- ^ a b Milligan, Stephen (August 26, 2007). "At 111, she’s second oldest in Georgia". Walton Tribune. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
- ^ "Birthday kiss for a centenarian". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. August 27, 2009. p. B1.
- ^ "A look back at 2011". Walton Tribune. January 1, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ^ Schwartz, Robbie (August 22, 2012). "Bridge naming for World's oldest person". Walton Tribune.
- ^ "Governor visits Besse". Walton Tribune. March 30, 2011. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
- ^ "Effort to name bridge for Besse Cooper". Walton Tribune. July 1, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ^ "Dedication of Besse Cooper Bridge Scheduled for Friday". Loganville-Grayson Patch. August 23, 2012.
- ^ "Bridge dedicated to world's oldest person". Walton Tribune. August 24, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
| Preceded by Maria Gomes Valentim |
Oldest recognized living person June 21, 2011 – December 4, 2012 |
Succeeded by Dina Manfredini |
| Preceded by Eunice Sanborn |
Oldest recognized living person in the United States January 31, 2011 – December 4, 2012 |
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| Preceded by Eunice Sanborn |
Oldest living person who was born in the United States January 31, 2011 – December 4, 2012 |
Succeeded by Mamie Rearden |
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