Georgia is home to the oldest person in the world in Besse Cooper, who turned 116 in August.
But Athens resident Corine Walter has reached a significant milestone also: She celebrated her 110th birthday on Wednesday, according to a story in the Athens Banner-Herald.
Cooper and Walter are supercentenarians, people who live to 110 years old or older. As of Sept. 6, the Gerontology Research Group listed 19 verified living supercentenarians in the United States.
Walter, who lives with her 82-year-old daughter, Louise Gresham, told the newspaper that a love of God is her secret to a long life.
“God bless everyone,” she said, as people entered her room to wish her a happy birthday at the Athens home she shares with Gresham.
Born in Oglethorpe County on Sept. 5, 1902, Walter had 10 children. She has outlived all but two — Gresham and her sister, Lizzie Stroud. Walter has 38 grandchildren and more than 100 great-grandchildren, the family estimates.
At the party Walter recalled the farm life she had with her husband, John A. Walker. She worked in the fields during the day picking cotton, feeding chickens and hogs and tending the garden. Her early life included washing clothes by hand, ironing and cooking.
“Them were the good old days,” she said. Walter lived by herself in her own apartment, cooked her own meals and took care of herself until she reached 100.
Walter is in great company when it comes to longevity. Cooper, the world’s oldest person, turned 116 on Aug. 27 in Monroe, Ga., where she lives. She’s only the eighth person in the world documented to have reached that milestone. Walton County named a bridge in Cooper’s honor.
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