Oldest Living Person Eunice Sanborn Dies January 31

Eunice Sanborn, an American supercentenarian, died Monday morning, January 31, 2011, in her Jacksonville, Texas, home. Eunice Sanborn, the Guinness Book of World Records titleholder as the World's Oldest Living Person, was 114 when she died.

She might have been 115; no one is absolutely certain. Apparently, Eunice Sanborn's family had a bone to pick with the U.S. Census Bureau over some old historical reporting figures that reportedly documented their family matriarch's actual age.

Either way, Eunice Sanborn outlived most of us - including three husbands and her own daughter, who died in 2005 at the ripe age of 90.

The Cherokee County resident, named as the Oldest Living American in April 2010, became the Oldest Living Person in the World on November 4, 2010, when Eugenie Blanchard, a Catholic nun, passed away on the French West Indies island of St. Barts.

"The Guinness Book of World Records" officially acknowledged Eunice Sanborn as the World's Oldest Living Person on November 5, 2010. On that day, Eunice Sanborn was 114 years and 108 days old (or perhaps 115 years and 108 days old). Either way, she won the title for current longevity.

Born on July 20, 1896 (or 1895), in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Eunice Allen Lyons Sanborn was married, widowed, and married again before moving to Texas. With her second husband, she founded Love's Lookout, a scenic resort site in Jacksonville. Eunice Sanborn sang for many years in the church choir at Jacksonville's First Baptist Church.

Last fall, the Texas supercentenarian and world record holder offered her own secret to longevity, saying this: "If you have the Lord Jesus, you don't need anything else." Of course, Eunice Sanborn also explained that she had learned how to mind her own business and to eat healthy meals, rather than junk food.

Eunice Sanborn was still living in her own home, a 1900 Texas Victorian. A full-time caretaker was attending Eunice Sanborn when she died at early on the morning of January 31.

"It was a very peaceful death," explained David French, Eunice Sanborn's caretaker and adopted relative (speaking to local reporters). "She was not uncomfortable. The Lord just called her home. He had been using her as a powerful witness for 115 years."

Funeral arrangements for Eunice Sanborn will be handled by Boren-Conner Funeral Home, in Jacksonville, Texas.

Who will now hold the record as the World's Oldest Living Person?

With Eunice Sanborn's departing, Besse Cooper (114), a resident of Monroe, Georgia, has now become the most senior living member of the human race. Besse Cooper is looking forward to her own 115^th birthday on August 26, 2011.