The oldest person in the world dies at 115

Shelbyville, United States, November 28: Edna Parker, Guinness World Record holder for being the oldest person in the present world, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 115 years and 220 days.

Dr. Stephen Coles, a UCLA gerontology expert, confirmed that Edna Parker, the woman famous for being the oldest living person in the world, has died in a nursing home at Shelbyville, Indiana.

Parker was born on April 20, 1893 in Morgan County in Indiana. She was a teacher before she married her childhood sweetheart, Earl, in 1913. Unfortunately, her husband Earl left her a widow due to a heart attack in 1939. She lived alone in their farmhouse since then until she reached the age of 100 and then moved in with her son Clifford.

Jonathan Fateley from Manhattan, Kansas, informed Dr. Coles about the death of his great aunt on Wednesday.

In August last year, Parker took the Guinness World record for being the oldest person in the world after the foregoing record holder, Yone Minagawa from Japan died.

Dr. Cole has been keeping the record of super-centenarians (people living until the age of 110 or over) and according to him Parker is the 14th oldest recorded super-centenarian in history.

Parker had two sisters whom she outlived. Having two sons named Clifford and Earl Jr., she was also the grandmother of five children, great-grandmother of 13 and great-great-grandmother of another 13 children.

Her sister Georgia lived until the age of 99 while her sister Opal lived until the age of 88.

The secret to Parker’s long life is thought to be her avoidance of alcohol and tobacco as well as living a healthy and active life. However, the only advice she ever gave was “more education”.

Don, Parker’s grandson made this statement just before his grandmother’s 115th birthday: "We don't know why she's lived so long. But she's never been a worrier and she's always been a thin person, so maybe that has something to do with it."

Because of Parker’s death, the Gerontology Research Group announced that the record for being the oldest living person in the world would now go to Maria de Jesus from Portugal who was also born in the year 1893.