Black Texas Woman Becomes Oldest Living American At 114 Years Old

Elizabeth Francis

Black Texas Woman Becomes Oldest Living American At 114 Years Old

A Black woman residing in Houston, Texas has become the oldest living person in the United States at age 114.

According to a recently released report, a woman by the name of Elizabeth Francis was crowned the title of the oldest living American this week. Her move to the number one spot comes after Edie Ceccarelli, the woman who previously held the position as the oldest living person in the U.S., died at age 116 on February 22 in California.

Edie Ceccarelli

Edie Ceccarelli recently celebrated her birthday on February 5 and was honored with a parade led by local fire and police authorities. At the time of her death, she was the second-oldest living person in the world. It’s also reported that Edie Ceccarelli made history as the oldest person to have ever lived in the state of California.

At the age of 108, Edie shared her tips for a happy, long life, which reportedly included — not smoking or drinking (except for a glass of wine at dinner), staying away from arguments, being truthful, putting in effort, and finding joy in small moments. Similar to Edie, Elizabeth Francis said her long life is thanks to her faith in God, never smoking or drinking alcohol (besides an occasional glass of wine) and she regularly walked until her early 90s.

Elizabeth Francis previously said in an interview,

“It’s not my secret. It’s the good Lord’s good blessing. I just thank God I’m here.”

Elizabeth Francis

LongeviQuest, an organization that tracks human longevity across the globe, reported that Elizabeth Francis is now the fifth-oldest person in the world at the age of 114 years and 214 days.

Elizabeth was born in 1909, eleven years before women had the right to vote in the U.S. During her time on Earth thus far she has experienced two World Wars, the Spanish Flu and the COVID pandemic.

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[Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4]