Skip to Content
Categories:

Oldest woman in North America outlives her family at age 114

Jayson Mendez, '25, dressed as an old man during the "Dress Your Age" spirit week day.
Jayson Mendez, ’25, dressed as an old man during the “Dress Your Age” spirit week day.
Olivia Celano

Naomi Whitehead is now the oldest living person in North America at the astounding age of 114 years old. She received this title after the third-oldest person in the world, Elizabeth Francis, died at the age of 115 on Oct. 22, 2024.

Whitehead believes she has lived a long time because she has never smoked, never tasted alcohol, and has her father’s good genes (who lived to see his 90s).

She also revealed that she has many hobbies such as cooking and baking, listening to music, and drawing. These activities are proven to relieve stress and people who get into the habit of these activities are calmer and happier than people who do not.

Whitehead is classified as a supercentenarian, someone older than 110 years old.

She was a child when the Titanic sank and when women were finally allowed to vote in the United States. She lived through both World Wars and two of the deadliest pandemics in human history: the influenza pandemic in 1918 and Covid 19 in 2020.

Even though her long life sounds fascinating, she’s also had to live through tragic events that no person should have to deal with.

She has outlived all of her siblings and dealt with the death of her husband and three kids.

Whitehead has even lived to see her great-great-great-grandchildren! One of her grandnieces said her stories were unparalleled by the rest of her family members.

As she holds her title of “the last American person born in the year 1910,” she resides at a senior living community in Greenville, Pennsylvania.

May she live a long rest of her life!

Print this Story
More to Discover