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| Susannah Mushatt Jones, World’s Oldest Person, Dies in New York at 116 | Susannah Mushatt Jones, World’s Oldest Person, Dies in New York at 116 |
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| William McKinley was president when Susannah Mushatt Jones was born in Alabama, just a few months before the turn of the 20th century. She lived through two world wars and the Great Depression, all before she retired in 1965, after decades of working in the homes of wealthy families. | William McKinley was president when Susannah Mushatt Jones was born in Alabama, just a few months before the turn of the 20th century. She lived through two world wars and the Great Depression, all before she retired in 1965, after decades of working in the homes of wealthy families. |
| Yet as recently as a few weeks ago, Ms. Jones was still sticking to her breakfast routine: four strips of bacon, eggs, grits. She had lost her eyesight and she could not hear as well as she used to. Ms. Jones was 116 years old, the world’s oldest living person. | Yet as recently as a few weeks ago, Ms. Jones was still sticking to her breakfast routine: four strips of bacon, eggs, grits. She had lost her eyesight and she could not hear as well as she used to. Ms. Jones was 116 years old, the world’s oldest living person. |
| Over the past two weeks, Ms. Jones’s health faded quickly, her relatives said. She stopped eating solid food, swapping the bacon, her favorite, for strained soups, and did not move from her bed. And on Thursday night, she died at the Vandalia Senior Center, a home operated by the New York City Housing Authority in East New York, Brooklyn, according to relatives and the Gerontology Research Group, which tracks supercentenarians, or people who have lived to 110 years old. | Over the past two weeks, Ms. Jones’s health faded quickly, her relatives said. She stopped eating solid food, swapping the bacon, her favorite, for strained soups, and did not move from her bed. And on Thursday night, she died at the Vandalia Senior Center, a home operated by the New York City Housing Authority in East New York, Brooklyn, according to relatives and the Gerontology Research Group, which tracks supercentenarians, or people who have lived to 110 years old. |
| Ms. Jones was the last living American who was verified to have been born before 1900, said Robert D. Young of the Gerontology Research Group. Mr. Young said that she held the title of world’s oldest living person since last summer. | Ms. Jones was the last living American who was verified to have been born before 1900, said Robert D. Young of the Gerontology Research Group. Mr. Young said that she held the title of world’s oldest living person since last summer. |
| “They’re all gone but me,” Lois Judge, Ms. Jones’s niece, recalled her aunt telling her. “Why me?” | “They’re all gone but me,” Lois Judge, Ms. Jones’s niece, recalled her aunt telling her. “Why me?” |
| As her age climbed, the superlatives stacked up — oldest in New York, then oldest in the United States and then oldest in the world. But Ms. Judge said Ms. Jones found it all hard to believe. | As her age climbed, the superlatives stacked up — oldest in New York, then oldest in the United States and then oldest in the world. But Ms. Judge said Ms. Jones found it all hard to believe. |
| “No, that’s not true,” she would tell her relatives of the titles, according to Ms. Judge. “With all the people in the world, how could I be the oldest?” | “No, that’s not true,” she would tell her relatives of the titles, according to Ms. Judge. “With all the people in the world, how could I be the oldest?” |
| Ms. Jones was born on July 6, 1899, in Lowndes County, Alabama. She was the third of 11 children, and she graduated in 1922 from the Calhoun School, a boarding school her parents paid for by bartering vegetables raised on the family’s farm. | Ms. Jones was born on July 6, 1899, in Lowndes County, Alabama. She was the third of 11 children, and she graduated in 1922 from the Calhoun School, a boarding school her parents paid for by bartering vegetables raised on the family’s farm. |
| She headed north soon after, arriving in New York in 1920s, and made a living mostly as a nanny. The families for whom she worked would often take her on vacations, including to Hollywood and to a cabin in Vermont, her niece said. | She headed north soon after, arriving in New York in 1920s, and made a living mostly as a nanny. The families for whom she worked would often take her on vacations, including to Hollywood and to a cabin in Vermont, her niece said. |
| In 1928, she married a man named Henry Jones, but their marriage did not last long. And she never had children. | In 1928, she married a man named Henry Jones, but their marriage did not last long. And she never had children. |
| But with so many siblings, and their children, and then grandchildren, Ms. Jones became a revered figure among the sprawling family, handing out pill bottles filled with change as gifts. She helped send nieces to college and let relatives live with her. “I am who I am because of her,” her oldest niece, Lavilla Mushatt Watson, said of Ms. Jones in 2013. | But with so many siblings, and their children, and then grandchildren, Ms. Jones became a revered figure among the sprawling family, handing out pill bottles filled with change as gifts. She helped send nieces to college and let relatives live with her. “I am who I am because of her,” her oldest niece, Lavilla Mushatt Watson, said of Ms. Jones in 2013. |
| In recent years, Ms. Jones had lived at the Vandalia Senior Center. Her apartment was filled with portraits of members of her extended family, birthday cards and the framed proclamation from when she became the oldest resident of New York, when she was 112. | In recent years, Ms. Jones had lived at the Vandalia Senior Center. Her apartment was filled with portraits of members of her extended family, birthday cards and the framed proclamation from when she became the oldest resident of New York, when she was 112. |
| And every year around July 6, it became routine for family members, local officials and journalists to gather around her at the senior center to celebrate her birthday. | And every year around July 6, it became routine for family members, local officials and journalists to gather around her at the senior center to celebrate her birthday. |
| At the festivities last year, Ms. Jones had just become the oldest living person, after Jeralean Talley died at 116 the month before in Michigan. Organizers served bacon, of course, and cake, and she was given a Brooklyn Nets jersey personalized with her nickname, Miss Susie. (The number: 116.) | At the festivities last year, Ms. Jones had just become the oldest living person, after Jeralean Talley died at 116 the month before in Michigan. Organizers served bacon, of course, and cake, and she was given a Brooklyn Nets jersey personalized with her nickname, Miss Susie. (The number: 116.) |
| In previous years, she had been a more active participant. But last year Ms. Jones, who wore a dark blue dress with a floral print and a white hat, quietly told the gathered guests thank you after they sang “Happy Birthday.” | In previous years, she had been a more active participant. But last year Ms. Jones, who wore a dark blue dress with a floral print and a white hat, quietly told the gathered guests thank you after they sang “Happy Birthday.” |
| Mr. Young said Ms. Jones’s presumed successor is a 116-year-old woman from Italy named Emma Morano. Ms. Morano, who was born in November 1899, is the last person alive who is verified to have been born in the 1800s. The next-oldest American, Mr. Young said, is “only 113.” | |
| Ms. Judge said her aunt’s remains would be returned to Alabama. | Ms. Judge said her aunt’s remains would be returned to Alabama. |
| “‘When are you coming to get me?’” Ms. Judge remembered her aunt saying. “She couldn’t have been talking to us. We’re already here.” | “‘When are you coming to get me?’” Ms. Judge remembered her aunt saying. “She couldn’t have been talking to us. We’re already here.” |
| “She was waiting to join the others,” Ms. Judge said, referring to her aunt’s siblings, all of whom had already died. “She’s the last one. I’m sure she was ready.” | “She was waiting to join the others,” Ms. Judge said, referring to her aunt’s siblings, all of whom had already died. “She’s the last one. I’m sure she was ready.” |