A woman believed to be North America’s oldest citizen can be found at a senior living community in Mercer County, Pa., where was recently presented with a special citation from State Rep. Parke Wentling (R-7th).
“We’re thrilled to start Active Aging Week by celebrating the incredible life of our beloved resident, Naomi Whitehead, who just recently turned 114 years old,” said a Facebook post from St. Paul’s Senior Living Community.
Whitehead was born on a farm in Georgia on Sept. 30, 1910, according to New Castle News. She remembers horses from the farm, and how she was afraid of getting kicked by them.
“I picked cotton and tobacco,” she told the outlet. She married Sylvester Whitehead in 1930 and had three sons. Whitehead outlived them, as well as a dozen other siblings.
After her husband died in the 1980s, she didn’t think of remarrying.
“I said if I loved him, I would never get married again,” Whitehead told New Castle News last year.
“She’s a godly woman,” Dan Whitehead, her grandson, told the outlet. “She is truly blessed.”
During her long life, Whitehead never smoked or drank alcohol. She attributes her longevity to good habits and her family history, since she had a grandfather who lived into his 90s.
“I’ll live as long as the Lord lets me,” she told New Castle News.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the life expectancy at birth for women in Georgia is 77.1 years and 79.3 years for women in Pennsylvania specifically.
St. Paul’s said Whitehead “is a shining example of how maintaining relationships and being part of a community can enrich our lives, no matter our age.”
Per CBS News, the supercentenarian enjoys cooking, baking, drawing and listening to music in addition to staying social. She told YouTuber Jack Gordon her advice for younger people is to work hard.
Whitehead became the oldest person in North America upon the death of Texas resident Elizabeth Francis on Oct. 22, CBS News reported. At 114, she’s close to making the Guinness World Records list of longest living people of all time.
Currently that list includes: Jeanne Calment of France who died in 1997 at 122 years 164 days; Sarah Knauss of the U.S., who died in 1999 at 119 years and 97 days old, Nabi Tajima of Japan, who died in 2018 at 117 years and 260 days old; Marie-Louise Meilleur of Canada, who died in 1998 at 117 years and 230 days old; Violet Brown of the British West Indies, now Jamaica, who died in 2017 at 117 years and 189 days old; Emma Morano of Italy, who died in 2017 at 117 years and 137 days old; Chiyo Miyako of Japan, who died in 2018 at 117 years and 81 days old; Misao Okawa of Japan, who died in 2015 at 117 years and 27 days old; Maria Esther de Capovilla of Ecuador, who died in 2006 at 116 years and 347 days old and Susannah Mushatt Jones of the U.S., who died in 2016 at 116 years and 311 days old.