May 21, 2013
MONROE, Ga. (AP) -- The woman who was listed as the world's oldest person has died in a Georgia nursing home at age 116.
Besse Cooper died peacefully Tuesday afternoon in Monroe, according to her son Sidney Cooper.
Cooper says his mother had been ill with a stomach virus, then felt better on Monday. On Tuesday he said she had her hair set and watched a Christmas video, but later had trouble breathing. He said she was put on oxygen in her room and died there about 2 p.m.
She was declared the world's oldest person in January 2011. In May, Guinness World Records learned that Maria Gomes Valentin of Brazil was 48 days older. Valentin died in June.
A Guinness official says the title now belongs to 115-year-old Dina Manfredini, of Johnston, Iowa.
