MONORE — The world’s oldest person celebrated her 115th birthday quietly Friday with a cake, family members and friends at a Walton County nursing facility.
In more than a century, Besse Cooper witnessed historic events on a personal, as well as a national scale.
She has traveled in a houseboat down a river with her family, watched the rise of airplanes and autos, taught school, survived the Great Depression, married and raised her own family.
This time last year, Cooper celebrated her 114th birthday and her rank as the third oldest living person with a big party and an Elvis Presley impersonator. Cooper already was in her 60s when Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” became a No. 1 hit.
His mother didn’t want another year in the spotlight, said Sidney Cooper.
“She’s just not up for company,” he said.
But people — especially the media — have called him a lot this week asking about his mother, Sidney Cooper said. Even the British Broadcast Corporation asked for an interview about the woman born in 1896.
“I guess it just fascinates people that anybody can live to be 115,” he said.
His mother’s health continues to hold strong — though she does sleep more this year than last year, Sidney Cooper said.
The family has held several big birthday celebrations for Besse, including her 80th birthday party.
“We really thought she was getting old (when she was 80),” Sidney Cooper said.
But his mother continued to age gracefully and stayed in her home until she reached age 105. That year she moved to an assisted living facility.
The oldest person to ever live was 122 years old, said Robert Young, Guinness World Records’ Gerontology consultant.
He knows of fewer than 25 people who’ve made it to the 115-year mark, Young said.
Young gave Besse Cooper a plaque recognizing her status in the Guinness World Book of Records.
Seeing someone survive for so many years seems to give people hope about adding extra years on their own lives, Young said.
While Besse Cooper didn’t want her picture taken, the family did allow a few interlopers to share some birthday cake.
Mike Cronic, a guitarist who played with Athens-based band the Normaltown Flyers, detoured while on a trip from Nashville to Athens to serenade Besse Cooper on her birthday.
“When I read about Mrs. Cooper, I thought ‘I have to do this,’ ” Cronic said.
The story about Besse living on a barge with her family really captured his imagination, he said.
Cronic also plays for older adults in Nashville, he said.
“I’ve always been interested in older people,” he said.
While Besse Cooper tops the list, Georgia has another confirmed supercentenarian in Athens; Leila Denmark is the seventh oldest living person at 113 years.