Edna Parker was born in 1893, and was part of the American supercentenarian group. The group was formed by Dr. Stephen Coles, from the Gerontology Research Group. Dr. Coles is in charge of validating cases of extreme old age. The group called the “supercentenarians” is formed exclusively of people aged over 110. Edna Parker was declared dead by Dr. Coles on Wednesday, at the nursing home where she was a resident. She was 115 years old at her time of death. Since 2007, Edna Parker was officially the world’s oldest person. Before 2007, the title belonged to the Japanese Yone Minagawa, who was only four months older than Edna Parker, but died on August 14th, 2007.

According to Dr. Coles, the second oldest person in the world is now another woman, namely Gertrude Baines from Los Angeles. The woman was the daughter of former slaves, which also makes her the oldest person in the world to be of African descent. Currently, Gertrude Baines is residing at a nursing facility near the USC, and is 114 years old. The title previously held by Edna Parker now belongs to Maria de Jesus, from Portugal, who turned 115 on September 10th.

Edna Parker graduated from Franklin College in 1911 and was a school teacher until she married her next-door neighbor and high-school sweetheart Earl Parker. From then on, Edna became a farmer’s wife, who got up at 4 a.m. sharp. Her husband died in 1938, and Edna also outlived their two sons. Currently, five of her grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and 13 great-great-grandchildren are still alive. Edna could still climb a ladder on her farm when she was 100 years old.