‘I just feel like living every day’: oldest American, 115, offers tips for longevity

The oldest person in the US offers two bits of advice when asked for the keys to her longevity: “If the good Lord gave it to you, use it” and “Speak your mind, don’t bite your tongue!”

Elizabeth Francis’s pearls of wisdom were recirculated widely as she celebrated her 115th birthday on Thursday. The milestone cemented her place as the world’s fourth-oldest living person, according to the LongeviQuest website, an authority on supercentenarians, or those who are 110 or older.

Francis was born in 1909 in St Mary parish, Louisiana, about 90 miles (145km) south-west of New Orleans. She was two when the Titanic sank and had turned 11 before women gained the right to vote in the US. She has seen the end of both world wars, lived through 20 different US presidencies and survived two of the deadliest pandemics: the 1918 flu outbreak and Covid-19.

Now a resident of Houston, Francis recently lived through another notable event when Hurricane Beryl struck just west of the Texas city on 8 July. The category 1 storm hit her house as it knocked out power to nearly 3m homes and businesses and caused at least 36 deaths.

“She has seen some things in her 115 years,” a statement from LongeviQuest’s chief executive officer, Ben Meyers, said about Francis. Dubbing her “America’s grandmother”, Meyers added: “But none of it has seemed to rattle her.”

Instead, Francis has greeted each chapter in her life with a sense of optimism, humor, strength and sagacity, Meyers said, citing testimonials from members of her close-knit community.

Francis has previously attributed at least some of her longevity to her religious faith. Fellow worshippers from the Good Hope Missionary Baptist church join the family and friends who visit her daily at the home she shares with her daughter, Dorothy Williams.

Good genetics have also helped: her late sister Bertha Johnson lived to the age of 106.

Francis inherited the title of the oldest known living American after the 22 February death of Edie Ceccarelli. Ceccarelli died about two weeks after her 116th birthday, an occasion that prompted her home town of Willits, California, to toss her a huge party.

Meyers and LongeviQuest in April presented Francis with a plaque recognizing her status.

“She was just shocked to hear she was now the oldest – she couldn’t believe it,” Francis’s granddaughter Ethel Harrison said to the Washington Post.

Harrison told the Post that Francis’s birthday cake on Thursday would have three candles on top of it: two number ones and a five. And the birthday girl could have as many slices as she wanted, according to Harrison.

“We all know that we have to punch that [final] ticket someday, so we’re amazed and grateful that she’s still here,” Harrison remarked, according to the Post. “She’s surprised us all.”

Globally, only three other people are older than Francis. Two are 116: Japan’s Tomiko Itooka and Brazil’s Inah Canabarro Lucas. Spain’s Maria Branyas Morera is 117.

Francis on Thursday also joined only 67 other people worldwide known to have reached the age of 115. She is among the 25 Americans with the longest known lives ever, according to LongeviQuest.

Asked in April by LongeviQuest for her reaction to those facts, Francis replied: “I just feel like living every day.”