Gladys Hooper, from the Isle of Wight, who celebrated her
birthday on 18 January, passed away at Highfield Nursing Home in Ryde at
lunchtime.
The former concert pianist was born in south-east London in
1903, the same year the Wright brothers made the first powered aircraft flight.
The great-grandmother was the country's most senior
supercentenarian, according to the Gerontology Research Group.
Her son Derek Hermiston, 85, said: "She just faded,
113-and-a-half is a good old age.
"We saw her this morning, she seemed reasonably well,
she was sleeping.
"We had left her for just about an hour when they
called us to tell us she had passed away."
Last year, Mrs Hooper broke a Guinness World Record when she
became the oldest person in the world - at 112 - to have a hip operation.
She moved into the nursing home following the operation.
Mrs Hooper was widowed in 1977 when her husband, Leslie, who
had been a pilot in the two world wars, died.
She had another great link to flight as she was good friends
at college with Amy Johnson who went on to become a trail-blazing aviator.
Gladys Hooper with her son Derek HermistonImage
People from the US, Canada, Belgium and Australia passed on
their birthday wishes on Facebook when Mrs Hooper turned 113 in January.
A video of Mrs Hooper talking about seeing a German airship
being shot down over London during World War One has been seen by more than
850,000 people.
According to Office for National Statistics figures, there
were 14,450 centenarians - people aged 100 and over - in the UK in 2014, with
780 estimated to be aged 105 or more.
The oldest person in the world is thought to be Emma Morano,
from Italy, who celebrated her 116th birthday last November, according to
Gerontology Research Group.
It had listed Mrs Hooper as the 12th oldest in the world.
According to the website Oldest In Britain, Bessie Camm, who
is 112 and from Rotherham, now becomes the oldest in the country.
-BBC
No comments:
Post a Comment
All rights reserved. This material and any other material on this site may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, written or distributed in full or in part, without written permission from WISEMEN
<===============================================>
WISEMEN is highly honoured to have you as our esteemed reader.
You are encouraged to make comments to any post herein.
However, we shall not be responsible for use of foul language, it is against our professional ethics.
Help build a better Society!