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Posts tagged as “Oldest Person in the United States”

115 Year-Old Jeralean Talley of Detroit Now Listed as World's Oldest Person

PHOTO: Jeralean Talley is escorted down the aisle after the church service honoring her 115th birthday at the New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Inkster, Michigan May 25, 2014.
Jeralean Talley is escorted down the aisle after the church service honoring her 115th birthday at the New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Inkster, Michigan May 25, 2014. (PHOTO: Rebecca Cook/Reuters)
Jeralean Talley of Inkster, MI tops a list maintained by the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, which tracks the world’s longest-living people. Gertrude Weaver, a 116-year-old Arkansas woman who was the oldest documented person for a few days, died on Monday.
Talley was born May 23, 1899. Asked for her key to longevity, the Detroit Free Press reports that she echoed previous answers on the topic.
“It’s coming from above,” she told the newspaper. “That’s the best advice I can give you. It’s not in my hands or your hands.”
Michael Kinloch, 56, of Wayne County’s Canton Township, is a General Motors engineer and longtime family friend of Talley’s through their church. He said Talley’s mental state is “is very sharp.”
“It’s unfortunate that other people passed away, but this has certainly elevated her. She’s feeling no pain. She just can’t get around like she used to,” Kinloch said.
Talley’s husband died in 1988 and five generations of her family have lived in the Detroit area. In 2013, her 114th birthday drew the attention of President Barack Obama, who said in a personal note that she’s “part of an extraordinary generation.”
Kinloch said he’s looking forward to taking Talley, despite her advanced age, on their annual fishing trip.
“We go to a trout pond in Dexter,” a community about 40 miles west of Detroit, Kinloch said. “She really likes that.”
article by Associated Press via abcnews.go.com

Michigan's Jeralean Talley, 114, is now the Oldest Living American

Talley and godson Tyler Kinloch pictured with one of the seven catfish she caught at the Trout Farm in Dexter, Mich., on June 16, 2012.
Jeralean Talley and godson Tyler Kinloch pictured with one of the seven catfish she caught at the Trout Farm in Dexter, Mich., on June 16, 2012. (COURTESY OF MICHAEL KINLOCH)

Be nice, worship God and eat pigs’ feet: That’s how Jeralean Talley of Inkster, Michigan says she lived to celebrate her 114th birthday today — and be crowned the oldest person in the United States. Using census records, the Gerontology Research Group verified her title after the previous oldest American, Elsie Thompson, died at 113 in March. Talley is still a youngster, relatively speaking, compared to the world’s oldest person, Jiroemon Kimura, who is 116 and lives in Japan.
In a phone conversation on the eve of her 114th birthday, Talley told TIME, “I feel okay.” These days, the supercentenarian lives with her daughter Thelma Holloway, 75, and says she passes the time by watching The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Wheel of Fortune as well as listening to baseball on the radio – though she doesn’t have a favorite team. She can stay up as late as midnight and feasts on her favorite foods: potato salad, honey buns, McDonald’s chicken nuggets and Wendy’s chili.