Besse Cooper
Cooper in 2011
Born
Besse Berry Brown

August 26, 1896 (1896-08-26)
Sullivan County, Tennessee, U.S.
Died(2012-12-04)December 4, 2012
(aged 116 years, 100 days)[1][2]
Monroe, Georgia, U.S.
Alma materEast Tennessee State Normal School (graduated 1916)
Known forOldest living person from June 21, 2011 to December 4, 2012
SpouseLuther Cooper
Children4

Besse Berry Cooper (née Brown; August 26, 1896 – December 4, 2012)[2] was an American supercentenarian[3] who was the world's oldest living person from June 21, 2011, until her death in 2012.

Early life, education and career

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).[4] As a child, she did well in school and was an avid reader.[5] She graduated from East Tennessee State Normal School (now East Tennessee State University) in 1916. It was during this period she became a suffragette,[6] and was a teacher in Tennessee before moving to Georgia in 1917.[7] She taught in Between, Georgia, until 1929.

Later life

She married Luther Cooper in 1924, and had four children with him. 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.[8][9] She spent her final years in Monroe, Georgia.[10] Cooper died of respiratory failure on December 4, 2012, after contracting stomach flu.[11]

Longevity

Cooper became Georgia's oldest resident on January 19, 2009, following the death of 113-year-old Beatrice Farve.[8] She was thought to be the world's oldest living person after the death of Eunice Sanborn on January 31, 2011[12] until May 18, 2011, when Brazil's Maria Gomes Valentim was verified as older.[13] On June 21, 2011, Maria Gomes Valentim died, and Cooper became the world's oldest living person.[14] Cooper reportedly attributed her longevity to "minding her own business" and avoiding junk food.[15]

At the time of her 116th birthday in August 2012, Cooper had four children, 11 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.[16][17] In July 2012, a proposal was advanced to name a Georgia bridge in Cooper's honor; a bridge in Between, Georgia, was named Besse Brown Cooper Bridge on August 24, 2012.[14][18][19][20] In October 2013, Cooper's grandson Paul Cooper founded the Besse Brown Cooper Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to "providing financial, legal, medical and public relations support" for supercentenarians worldwide.[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "World's Oldest Woman Dies at 116". Loganville-Grayson Patch. December 4, 2012. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "World's 'oldest person' Besse Cooper dies aged 116". BBC. December 5, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  3. ↑ "World's oldest person dies at age 116". CNN. December 5, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Oldest American dies". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. March 9, 2010. p. 3.
  5. ↑ Dennis, Joe (August 29, 2004). "Cooper marks 108th birthday". Walton Tribune. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  6. ↑ "World's oldest person dies at age 116". CNN. December 5, 2012. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023.
  7. ↑ Brooks, James (February 1, 2011). "World's oldest person is a graduate of what is now ETSU". Johnson City Press. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  8. 1 2 Milligan, Stephen (August 26, 2007). "At 111, she's second oldest in Georgia". Walton Tribune. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Birthday kiss for a centenarian". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. August 27, 2009. p. B1.
  10. ↑ "Governor visits Besse". Walton Tribune. March 30, 2011. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Besse Cooper, World's Oldest Person, Dies at Age 116". Time. December 5, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  12. ↑ "World's oldest woman Eunice Sanborn dies in US at 114". BBC News. January 31, 2011. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  13. ↑ Yapp, Robin (May 18, 2011). "Brazilian woman aged 114 is world's oldest person". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  14. 1 2 Swanepoel, Sharon (August 26, 2012). "Sweet 116th Birthday Wishes to the World's Oldest Living Person". Loganville-Grayson Patch. Archived from the original on August 31, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  15. ↑ "A look back at 2011". Walton Tribune. January 1, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  16. ↑ Milligan, Stephen (August 29, 2012). "Cooper continues to make history". Walton Tribune. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  17. ↑ Schwartz, Robbie (August 22, 2012). "Bridge naming for World's oldest person". Walton Tribune. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Effort to name bridge for Besse Cooper". Walton Tribune. July 1, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Dedication of Besse Cooper Bridge Scheduled for Friday". Loganville-Grayson Patch. August 23, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Bridge dedicated to world's oldest person". Walton Tribune. August 24, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  21. ↑ "About us". Besse Brown Cooper Foundation. 2013. Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
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