World's Oldest Person Turns 115
Edna Parker Enters her 116th Year as Oldest Living Human
American Woman Recognised by Guinness Book of Records as the Oldest Person In the World at 115 years of Age.
Edna Parker of Indiana, USA was born on April 20th in the year 1893, and is celebrating her 115th birthday as the oldest living Human being on Earth, according to the Guinness Book of Records and the Gerontology Research Group who study and verify the ages of the World’s oldest people.
The Oldest Person on Earth
There are just two people alive whose birth date in 1893 can be verified. Mrs Parker is the oldest, and Spain’s Maria de Jesus follows, having been born in the September of that year. These two ladies are the oldest known Human beings alive. Mrs Parker was awarded the title of World’s oldest person by Guinness last year after the passing of Japanese woman Yone Minagawa who died at the age of 114 in August 2007.
The oldest man is recorded as being Tomoji Tanabe of Japan who was born in 1895, and is already 112 years old. Mr Tanabe is among the top fifteen oldest living people in the world.
One of the Oldest People Ever to have Lived
Mrs Parker is recognised by the Gerontology Research Group as one of the twenty-five oldest people whose age has ever been verified. The oldest person ever to have lived is recorded as Jeanne Calment of France, who lived from 1875 to 1997, a total of 122 years and 164 days. The oldest man whose age can be verified beyond doubt is Christian Mortensen who was born in Denmark but moved to the USA as a child, and lived from 1882 to 1998, a total of 115 years and 252 days.
An Amazing Life
Mrs Parker was born 115 years ago in Morgan County, Indiana, the state where she still resides today. She was raised on a farm, and went on to become a school teacher. In 1911 she married Earl Parker, who had been her next-door neighbour, and the couple had two sons, Clifford and Junior. Sadly Earl passed away in 1939, and Mrs Parker never remarried. Her two sons have also passed away, but she has a large family remaining, including five grand-children, and many great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. She now resides in a retirement home in the town of Shelbyville, where she moved when she was 102 years old.
Mrs Parker has received recognition internationally for her incredible longevity, and even has a letter of congratulations from American President George W. Bush, thanking her for “sharing her wisdom and experiences” with younger generations. Last year, in honour of her 114th birthday she was given the key to the city of Shelbyville from the Mayor, and has been visited by the state Governor and Senator.
For her 115th birthday, two parties were held in honour of this incredible lady, and her family released 115 balloons into the sky, one for each of the years she has spent in the world.
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