AMERICA’S oldest person has died at her home in Houston at the age of 115.
Elizabeth Francis was living with her 95-year-old daughter and 69-year-old granddaughter when she died on Tuesday.
Elizabeth Francis has died at the age of 115 in Houston, TexasCredit: KTRK
Elizabeth Francis was living with her 95-year-old daughter and 69-year-old granddaughter before she diedCredit: KTRK
She was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 on July 25, 1909, and lived through 20 US Presidents – the first being former President William Howard Taft.
Francis was the third-oldest person in the world at the time of her death, according to LongeviQuest, a database on the world’s oldest people.
“Ms. Elizabeth was a Houstonian icon and a cherished member of the community,” the database said in a statement.
The supercentenarian lived through two world wars, two plagues and witnessed the rapid rise of technology during her lifetime.
She also previously told how her secret to a long life was her faith in God and eating fresh foods from her garden.
Francis told ABC News that she never smoked or drank, didn’t need glasses, and said her hearing was the same as always.
The beloved grandmother first moved to Houston when she was 11, with her and her five siblings being sent to different homes after their mother died.
Raised by her aunt, she has lived there ever since, going on to run a local coffee shop and becoming an active member of her church.
Ben Meyers, the CEO of LongeviQuest told Fox News Digital that one of the reasons Francis lived so long was the huge amount of support she had around her.
“One thing that she really is an example of more than almost anybody else I’ve met is just family and community,” he said.
“She lives at home, and she’s the oldest person in the world to live at home. It’s really pretty extraordinary. Also, the community that she has through her church,” Meyers added.
“So there [are] really active families and communities. It’s very difficult for people to reach that age in isolation.”
Francis has three grand𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren, five great-grand𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren and four great-great-grand𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren.