Nebraska’s Thelma Sutcliffe, oldest living person in US, dead at 115

OMAHA, Neb. — Thelma Sutcliffe, the oldest living person in the U.S., died Monday.

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The Nebraska native, who was 115 years, 108 days old, died in Omaha, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

Sutcliffe’s longtime friend, Luella “Lou” Mason, said Sutcliffe “was taken care of, and the hospice was with her when she passed,” according to the newspaper.

“She passed very peacefully,” Mason said. “It was just time.”

According to the Gerontology Research Group, Sutcliffe took over the top spot in the U.S. when Hester Ford, of Charlotte, North Carolina, died on April 17, 2021. Ford was 115.

Sutcliffe ranked as the fifth-oldest living person in the world whose age had been validated by the Gerontology Research Group.

The oldest living person in the world confirmed by the group is Kane Tanaka of Japan, who was born Jan. 2, 1903, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

>> Nebraska’s Thelma Sutcliffe, 114, becomes oldest living American

Sutcliffe was born on Oct. 1, 1906, in Benson, Nebraska, a city that was annexed by Omaha in 1917, according to Nebraska birth records.

Maria Branas Morera, who was born in California on March 4, 1907, and now lives in Spain, will now become the oldest living American, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

Thelma Liesche Sutcliffe was born to August and Maude Adams Liesche. She married Bill Sutcliffe in Council Bluffs, Iowa, located across the Missouri River from Omaha, on Sept. 3, 1924, according to Iowa marriage records. She was 17.

The Sutcliffes had no children, the World-Herald reported. Bill Sutcliffe died during the 1970s, according to the newspaper.

Sutcliffe has survived two bouts of breast cancer, KETV reported.

Mason said she last had lunch with Sutcliffe a few weeks ago, the World-Herald reported.

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