Oldest known person, Sister André, dies at 118

People across France on Wednesday mourned the death of the world’s oldest known person, Lucile Randon, a French nun known as Sister André. She was 118. A spokesman said she died as she slept Tuesday at a French nursing home. Now, the oldest known person is American-born Maria Branyas Morera who is living in Spain. She’s 115. 

Who was Sister André? Sister André was born Lucile Randon on Feb. 11, 1904, in southern France and watched her two brothers leave to fight in World War I. She said one of her fondest memories was seeing them return from war. She grew up a Protestant but converted to Catholicism when she was about 25. She became a nun 15 years later. Last year, she said that while some people say working kills you, she believed work makes you live. She cared for other elderly people—even though she was blind and in a wheelchair—until she was 108. 

Dig deeper: Read Thaddeus Williams’s column in WORLD Opinions on understanding The Age of Anxiety and what comes next.