- nypost.com
VIVA – The oldest person in the United States, Bessie Hendricks, is known to have passed away at 115 on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. She is also known as the fourth oldest person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group. Hendricks passed away at Shady Oaks Care Center.
Bessie Hendricks was born on November 7, 1907, and grew up on a farm. Then, she married her husband Paul and had five children named, Shirley, Joan, Roland, Glenda, and Leon.
She was a school teacher and also went on to work on an assembly line at an ammunition plant during the Second World War, filling shells with gunpowder.
Bessie Hendricks, oldest woman in the US and fourth in the World.
- nypost.com
Five years ago, when this oldest person turned 110, she told the Fort Dodge Messenger 'hard work' was the secret to her longevity. But one of her children also revealed that his mother also 'loved her sweets.'
"A strong will and love of family keep Bessie going," said a care center administrator on her birthday in 2019. "She has a great appreciation for life."
She lost her husband in 1995 just a month before their 65th wedding anniversary and also outlived two of her children. She leaves behind three children, nine grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, and 42 great-great-grandchildren.
A funeral service for Hendricks will be held at Lampe & Powers Funeral Home on Saturday. The Gerontology Research Group reports Hendrick's death leaves 114-year-old Edie Ceccarelli of California as the country's oldest living person.
