CAMDEN (Web Desk) – A 116-year-old Arkansas woman died Monday, five days after she became the world’s oldest person.
Gertrude Weaver, who was born in 1898, died of complications from pneumonia at the Silver Oaks Health and Rehabilitation Center in Camden, Arkansas.
“It was absolutely unexpected; it’s quite a shock to all of us,” Silver Oaks administrator Kathy Langley told The Los Angeles Times. “We’re very saddened by her loss, and she will be greatly missed.”
Weaver became the oldest living person April 1 after the death of Japan’s Misao Okawa. Okawa was 117.
Weaver, who worked as a housekeeper for much of her life, told Time magazine in July 2014 that she liked manicures, Bible study and “wheelchair dancing.”
She attributed her longevity to “kindness.”
“Treat people right and be nice to other people the way you want them to be nice to you,” she said.
According to the Gerontology Research Group, the world’s oldest person is now 115-year-old Michigan resident Jeralean Talley.
