GRG News for 2015
World's Oldest Man, Sakari Momoi, of Tokyo, Japan, previously of Saitama Prefecture, has died of kidney failure in Tokyo on July 5, 2015.
Here's an article about his death:
http://news.yahoo.com/worlds-oldest-man-dies-japan-age-112-060701761.html
Here's an article about his 112th birthday earlier this year in February with some biographical information about him:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/worlds-oldest-man-sakari-momoi-celebrates-112th-birthday-tokyo-1486692
His Photo Gallery can be found here:
https://grg.org/Gallery/1903Gallery.html#Yasutaro_Koide
For the second time in two months, the World's Oldest Person turns 116. This time, it is Susannah Mushatt Jones, of Brooklyn, New York, USA, who turned 116 on July 6th.
USA Today published the article here:
On her 116th birthday, Guinness World Records had announced that they recognized Susannah Mushatt Jones as the world's oldest person titleholder:
World's Oldest Person, Jeralean Talley, of Inkster, Michigan, died on Wednesday evening, June 17, 2015, at the age of 116 years and 25 days.
Here are some articles covering her death:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11685069/Worlds-oldest-person-dies-aged-116.html http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/06/18/jeralean-talley-dead-oldest-woman/28923509/
Gerontology Research Group's Director of Supercentenarian Research and Database Division, Robert Young, reports that Susannah Mushatt Jones of Brooklyn, New York City, is now the new World's Oldest Person. She is less than one month away from her 116th birthday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/18/us-usa-longevity-idUSKBN0OY2RT20150618
Gerontology Research Group was saddened to receive the news from the family that Antonio Gerena Rivera had passed away on June 2, 2015, at the age of 115 years and 14 days.
Miami Herald posted an obituary article here:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article23612395.html
World's Oldest Person, Jeralean Talley, celebrates her 116th birthday
On May 23, 2015, in Inkster, Michigan, Jeralean Talley, World's Oldest Person, celebrated her 116th birthday. Here are a couple of news stories covering her birthday:
Time.com (dated May 22nd)
http://time.com/3894730/worlds-oldest-person-jeralean-talley-116th-birthday/
Detroit Free Press (dated May 24th) including pictures of her 116th birthday
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/05/24/worlds-oldest-person-celebrates-turning-inkster/27890383/
On May 19, 2015, Miami (Florida) resident Antonia Gerena Rivera, born in Puerto Rico on May 19, 1900 and recognized by Guinness World Records and the Gerontology Research Group as the world's current 5th oldest living person, turned 115 years old. Because she is a member of the Jehovah's Witness church, the family does not "celebrate" birthdays, and thus there has been virtually no news coverage of this woman's existence.
While the family of Antonia do not "celebrate" birthdays, they do wish to get her life story out, to "celebrate" her life history. This woman was born in Puerto Rico but has lived in South Florida for quite some time. Longevity runs in her family. A brother, Frank died at 105 and a sister, Maria, at 103. The oldest daughter passed away at age 92 in 2010.
Picture of Antonia Gerena Rivera at age 114:
Antonia Gerena Rivera's age was verified by the Gerontology Research Group, as of December 23, 2010. Antonia was listed in Guinness World Records 2015 as the 7th-oldest living person worldwide. Since that time, she has moved up to 5th in the world rankings.
Antonia already holds the records for:
--Puerto Rico's oldest woman ever (and second-oldest person behind Emiliano Mercado Del Toro, 1891-2007, who holds the overall island record at 115 years, 156 days)
--Florida's oldest resident ever. Carrie White's claim to 116 in 1991 was later retracted when a subsequent investigation cast doubt upon her age
Antonia had met Stan Primmer, Director of Supercentenarian Research Foundation, in January 2011, as well as the late Dr. L. Stephen Coles, Co-Founder of Gerontology Research Group (GRG). More recently, she was visited by Robert Young, Director of Supercentenarian Research and Database Division for GRG (see her Photo Gallery for more). Her family also had contributed to two genetic supercentenarian study groups.
Her photo gallery can be found here: https://grg.org/Gallery/1900Gallery.html#Antonia_Rivera
April 6, 2015; GRG received the news from the family of Gertrude Weaver that she passed away this morning at the age of 116.
This was covered in the news:
While Mrs. Gertrude Weaver's reign as World's Oldest Person was only for 5 days, it was not the shortest record ever on record. Emma Tillman, 114, reigned for only 4 days back in 2007 before her own death.
Mrs. Jeralean Talley is mentioned by Time here:
http://www.time.com/3772979/new-oldest-living-person-jeralean-talley/
April 3, 2015; GRG was saddened to learn of the passing of the World's Oldest Person, Misao Okawa, 117, in the morning hours on Wednesday, April 1, 2015, in Japan. Mrs. Misao Okawa had celebrated her 117th birthday last month.
This is one of many media links about her passing:
http://news.yahoo.com/worlds-oldest-person-dies-117-japan-035640645.html
For more photos of her on her 117th birthday and other photos, please visit her Photo Gallery section here.
With Mrs. Misao Okawa's passing, Gerontology Research Group now recognizes Mrs. Gertrude Weaver, 116, of Camden, Arkansas, United States, as the oldest person in the world.
She was covered in the media here:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-gertrude-weaver-oldest-woman-20150401-story.html
Mrs. Gertrude Weaver's Photo Gallery can be found here.