‘World’s oldest person’ dies peacefully at home in Detroit suburb at age 116
‘World’s oldest person’ dies peacefully at home in Detroit suburb at age 116
A 116-year-old woman deemed the world’s oldest person has died in Michigan.
Jeralean Talley died Wednesday at her home in the Detroit suburb of Inkster. Her daughter, Thelma Holloway, 77, confirmed the death.
Holloway said Thursday her mother was recently hospitalized and treated for fluid in her lungs, but was grateful to return home, ‘just where she wanted to be.’
Talley turned 116 on May 23. She celebrated at her church and a local office of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
The Gerontology Research Group considered Talley to be the world’s oldest person, based on available records, followed by Susannah Jones of Brooklyn, New York. The group says Jones turns 116 in July.
Talley was born in Montrose, Georgia, in 1899. Her husband, Alfred, died in 1988, at age 95. They were married for 52 years.
Talley outlived the average American woman by 37 years.
Her daughter said that Talley passed away peacefully and was not in any pain. ‘Just remember her as being a very beautiful, forgiving person,’ she told the Detroit Free Press.
Friends and family said that Talley lived by the credo of treating others how she wished to be treated.
She was a religious woman who credited God with her longevity, saying, ‘There’s nothing I can do about it.’
She was active well into her later years, fishing every summer, and it wasn’t until she was 104 that she retired from bowling. On her 114th and 116th birthdays, Talley received well-wishes from President Barack Obama.
She is survived by her one child, daughter Holloway, and three generations of grandchildren. Friend Michael Kinloch said that her prayer was to not suffer, and that ‘God certainly answered her prayer.’
