114-Year-Old Believed To Be World's Oldest Person

MONROE, Ga. (AP) - At 114 years old and counting, Besse Cooper says it's "rather great" to be the oldest person in the world. She makes her 75-year-old son proud. "We were delighted when she got to 100. We thought that was a great achievement," said Sid Cooper. "We never imagined she'd live to be the oldest person in the world."

Cooper, who is 114 years and 5 months old, assumed the mantle of the oldest living person after the death Monday of Eunice G. Sanborn of Jacksonville, Texas, according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group. The group certifies supercentenarians _ people who are 110 or older.

Cooper wears a string of pearls double-looped around her neck and spends her days sitting and sleeping. She now lives in a nursing home in Monroe, Ga., about 45 miles east of Atlanta. Her wheelchair has bright pink armrests embroidered with "Ms. Besse, 2010 114."

She was born in Sullivan County, Tenn., on Aug. 26, 1896, during the second term of President Grover Cleveland.

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