A 116-year-old woman listed by Guinness World Records as the planet's oldest living person died last night in a nursing home in the US.
Besse Cooper died peacefully at the Park Place nursing home in Monroe, Georgia, soon after having her hair done, according to her son Sidney Cooper.
"She looked real good when she passed away," the 77-year-old Mr Cooper said, saying his mother died quietly and without suffering.
"She got up this morning, had a big old breakfast and got her hair fixed," he said. "It's just like she got up planning to do it."
He said his mother, who was a teacher until her first child was born in 1929, had four children. All survived her and are in good health, he said.
"She lived in three centuries. [Not] many people do that," said Cooper. He added that his mother died after a brief bout of breathing trouble that put her back in bed after lunch.
Besse Cooper was first certified as the world's oldest person by Guinness World Records in January 2011.
The title was stripped from her for a few months when it was discovered that Brazilian-born Maria Gomes Valentim, a fellow super centenarian, was 48 days older.
Guinness gave the title back to Ms Cooper after Gomes Valentim died in June 2011.
Reuters