[Al Ahram] The oldest known person in the world has died peacefully at her home in the United States aged 116, media reports said Thursday.Didja ever notice that once you achieve that title "Oldest Person in the World" you're gonna be dead, probably within a year?
Jeralean Talley, who kept up her bowling hobby until the ripe-old age of 104, passed away on Wednesday in Inkster, near Detroit, the Detroit Free Press said.
"Whaddya mean, I 'got turned down for a life insurance policy?' I'm a good risk! I'm 116 years old! What were the odds I'd peg out in one o' those years?"
Friends told the newspaper that she prayed not to suffer.
"Hey! You with the actuary table! Yeah, I mean you! What were the odds I'd live longer than 78 years?"
"God certainly answered her prayer," said Michael Kinloch, her longtime friend.
"How about 88? 98?"
The deeply religious Talley was born in the southern US state of Georgia at the tail end of the nineteenth century on May 23, 1899.
"How about 108?"
"Just remember her as being a very beautiful, forgiving person," said her daughter Thelma Holloway, 77, adding that Talley had been in a hospital for a week before being brought home on Saturday.
"See? You can write me a policy to see me through 118!"
"She went away peacefully," Holloway said.
"Sure I'll consent to a medical examination! Lookidat! No rigor mortis in these limbs, by Gum!"
Talley is survived by her daughter as well as three generations of grandchildren, the newspaper said.
"Maybe I'll live through 128!"
Her husband of 52 years, Alfred Talley, died in 1988 when he was 95 years old.
"Okay! Okay! Just sign here! Then lemme alone!"
"Good! Oh, I'm so excited! I... I... [GASP!] [WHEEZE!] [COLLAPSE!]... Rosebud!