WASHINGTON — The world’s oldest person died on Wednesday, less than a month after her 117th birthday.
Misao Okawa’s nursing home in Osaka says she lost her appetite about 10 days ago, the Associated Press says. She stopped breathing as her grandson and nursing home officials attended.
Born March 5, 1898, she was recognized as the world’s oldest person in 2013.
Asked earlier this month by a government official how she felt about living so long, she replied, “It seemed rather short.”
She added that she was “very happy” to have lived so long, and, asked for the secret to her longevity, she answered, “I wonder about that too.”
She was married in 1919, and her husband, Yukio, died in 1931. They had three children, and she had four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
