Woman Believed To Be The World’s Oldest Person Dies At 118

A woman believed to be the world’s oldest living person died at the age of 118 on Tuesday, Jan. 17.

French nun Sister Andre, 118, believed to be the world’s oldest living person, died on Tuesday at 2 a.m. local time in Paris, France. She was crowned the world's oldest person by the Guinness World Record after Kane Tanaka, from Japan, died in April 2022 at the age of 119, New York Post reported.

Lucile Randon was born on Feb. 11, 1904, and took the name of Sister Andre when she joined a Catholic charitable order in 1944. She worked as a teacher and was also a governess who looked after children during World War II.

Before she became a Catholic nun in 1944, she spent almost three decades working with orphans and taking care of the elderly at a French hospital.

She lived through the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, and also easily fended off a bout with COVID-19 in 2021. She tested positive for the virus at her nursing home. However, when she contracted the virus, she didn’t show any symptoms. At the time, when she was asked if she feared COVID, she said she didn’t mind dying, CNN reported.

“No, I wasn’t scared because I wasn’t scared to die… I’m happy to be with you, but I would wish to be somewhere else – join my big brother and my grandfather and my grandmother,” she said.

Even at the age of 118, Sister Andre still indulged in sweets and chocolate was a guilty pleasure of hers. She also had a glass of wine every day with a staff member at her nursing home and also speculated that it was her “longevity secret.”

“There is great sadness, but she wanted it to happen, it was her desire to join her beloved brother. For her, it is freedom,” spokesperson David Tavella reportedly said.

Following her death, the mayor of Toulon, Hubert Falco, said in a series of tweets that France lost a nun with a big heart, who had immense wisdom and love for others.

She was at the Sainte Catherine Labouré nursing home for more than a decade and was also the oldest nun to ever live.

Jeanne Louise Calment, another French woman, born on Feb. 21, 1875, holds the title of the oldest person ever recorded. According to the Guinness World Records, her life spanned 122 years and 164 days.