Georgia woman certified as world's oldest person

[March 11, 2011]  MONROE, Ga. (AP) -- Georgia's 114-year-old Besse Cooper got a visit from Guinness World Records to certify her as the world's oldest living person.

Surrounded by family, Cooper accepted a plaque during a small ceremony at a Monroe nursing home Thursday morning.

Her son, 75-year-old Sid Cooper, said previously that relatives never imagined she would live to be the world's oldest person.

Earlier this year, Cooper became the oldest living person after the death of Eunice G. Sanborn of Texas. That's according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group that certifies supercentenarians -- people who are 110 or older.

Cooper was born in Tennessee on Aug. 26, 1896, during the second term of President Grover Cleveland.

[Associated Press]

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