Published : Aug. 29, 2012 - 19:42
Besse Cooper
WALTON, Georgia (UPI) ― A Georgia county celebrated the 116th birthday of the world’s oldest living person ― the eighth person to reach the age ― by dedicating a bridge to the woman.
Besse Cooper, who turned 116 Sunday, was honored at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for a new bridge on New Hope Church Road in Walton County when officials dedicated the bridge to her, the Walton Tribune reported Monday.
“The older she has gotten the more wittier she has gotten,” said Cooper’s son, Sidney, in relaying a message from his mother for the ceremony.
“I’m glad I gave them a reason to name it,” he quoted Besse Cooper as saying.
Cooper, who was born in Tennessee on Aug. 26, 1896, is only the eighth person confirmed to have reached the age of 116.