Gertrude Weaver holds a flower given to her a day before her 116th birthday at Silver Oaks Health and Rehabilitation in Camden, Ark on July 3, 2014.Danny Johnston / AP
Following the death on Wednesday of Misao Okawa, a 117-year-old who lived in Japan, the world’s new oldest person is an American.
The title now belongs to Gertrude Weaver, 116, who lives at Silver Oaks Health and Rehabilitation, a nursing home in Camden, Ark., according to the Gerontology Research Group.
“At the moment, Gertrude Weaver is the oldest living person for whom the Gerontology Research Group can adequately verify her age, with the three documentary conditions of original proof of birth, name change and recent identification having been met,” Robert Young, director of the group’s supercentenarians division, tells TIME.
Photographing a Kiss: Long Time Love Affairs
Joseph and Dorothy Bolotin
Sharon, Pennsylvania
Married on June 16, 1938.
Dorothy, "I never think of it in terms of years. I think of it in terms of good years. In love, hot
romance doesn’t last forever. So I would say that yes, I think love changes. I would say we’re still
in love. It’s focusing, doing little things. He’s an amazing man."Lauren FleishmanJohn and Sherma Campbell
Star Valley, Wyoming
Married on May 13, 1955.
Sherma, "When you start out, you think you love each other as much as you possibly can,but love
grows—just like your inner self grows as time goes by and you have experiences.And now at this
stage of the game, I love him even more. I can’t even imagine life without him."Lauren FleishmanJin Lin and Lai Mei Chen
Brooklyn, New York Married on February 4, 1961.
Jin Lin, "We had so many things in common it was like our hearts were the same."Lauren Fleishmande'Spagnolis
Aldo de’Spagnolis and Maria Filiozzi
Itri, Italy
Married on October 23, 1949.
Aldo, "When I first saw her, she was 14 and I was 22.Was there a concern that she was too young
for me? No! Even now I look like a young child! Yes, even now I’m still young."Lauren FleishmanJake and Mary Jacobs
Solihull, England
Married on April 27, 1948.
Mary,"Jake said to me,'Would it ever be possible for me to marry you?' And I said,'Possible but
not probable!' And that’s how it was. It wasn’t likely that I would ever marry him, and he knew
that. So when he went home to Trinidad, my mother and father breathed a sigh of relief. But he
used to write, and he said, 'I’m thinking I might come back to England.'"Lauren FleishmanKissin
Yevgeniy and Lyubov Kissin
Brooklyn, New York
Married on June 29, 1941.
Yevgeniy, "We met at a dancing party. It was in January 1938. My friend invited me to the party, he said there would be a lot of beautiful young girls. Another cadet with high boots had approached
her, but she didn’t like high boots and so she said no to him. I was the second one to approach
her. I had a different uniform, but I’m still not sure if it was my uniform or my face that attracted
her to me."Lauren FleishmanItig and Golda Pollac
Brooklyn, New York
Married on August 13, 1946.
Golda, "I would say love came little by little. Not right away.We were young.And he was older, but I
liked him. He spoke to me in a very nice way."Lauren FleishmanYaakov and Mariya Shapirshetyn
Brooklyn, New York
Married on July 6, 1949.
Yaakov, "What is the secret to love? A secret is a secret, and I don’t reveal my secrets."Lauren FleishmanGino and Angie Terranova
Staten Island. New York
Married on September 27, 1947.
Angie, "You really don’t think about getting older. First of all, you’re aging together, and when you
see a person constantly,you don’t notice big changes. Like you don’t notice, oh you’re getting a
little wrinkle here and tomorrow you say it’s a little deeper. No, those are things that just happen."Lauren Fleishman
In an interview with TIME last year after she was first recognized as the oldest-living American, Weaver said her secret to longevity is “kindness.”
“Treat people right and be nice to other people the way you want them to be nice to you,” she added. These days, she enjoys “wheelchair dancing,” manicures, Bible study and attending concerts by singers from schools and church groups.
On Wednesday, Weaver told the Associated Press she would like President Obama to attend her party for her 117th birthday on July 4.
