[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5689]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      WORLD'S OLDEST LIVING PERSON

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                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 28, 2015

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, it is a great honor to recognize Ms. 
Jeralean Talley, a resident of Michigan's 13th District for a truly 
extraordinary distinction: Being named the world's oldest living person 
by the Gerontology Research Group, which keeps global longevity 
records. Ms. Talley was born in 1899 in Georgia and moved to Michigan 
in 1935, where she has resided ever since.
  An active member of her family and community, Ms. Talley bowled until 
she was 104 and mowed her own lawn until just a few years ago. 
According to the Gerontology Research Group, only one in 5 million 
people live to 110 years. Ms. Talley will turn 116 next month.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit an article from the Detroit Free 
Press from April 7, 2015 recognizing Ms. Talley for leading an 
extraordinarily full life and for achieving this unique distinction.

                  [Detroit Free Press, April 7, 2015]

         Inkster's Jeralean Talley is oldest person, group says

                           (By Bill Laitner)

       The front door flew open as a reporter approached a brick 
     ranch house in Inkster and a voice called out, ``C'mon in--
     I've got Time magazine on the phone.''
       The speaker stood Thursday night over a placid figure 
     dressed in a pale pink nightgown named Jeralean Talley, a 
     bright-eyed elderly woman in spectacles who--despite her 
     profound hearing loss--was fully aware, relatives said, that 
     she'd just been declared by gerontology experts to be the 
     oldest person in the world.
       ``It's truly incredible because Ms. Talley is very aware of 
     what's going on. Her mental state is very sharp,'' said 
     Michael Kinloch, 56, of Canton, a GM engineer and longtime 
     family friend of Talley's through their church.
       ``It's unfortunate that other people passed away, but this 
     has certainly elevated her. She's feeling no pain. She just 
     can't get around like she used to,'' Kinloch said, who sat on 
     a couch as he gestured to the walker that stood before 
     Talley's easy chair.
       Talley, who will turn 116 on May 23, climbed to the top 
     spot after Gertrude Weaver, the world's oldest person for 
     just five days, died Monday in Arkansas. She was 116.
       Weaver, who was born July 4, 1898, to sharecroppers near 
     the Texas border, was also the oldest American. She died at 
     10:12 a.m. at the Silver Oaks Health and Rehabilitation in 
     Camden, a spokeswoman told KTHV-TV in Little Rock.
       She was crowned the oldest just Wednesday after the death 
     of Misao Okawa in Japan. She was 117.
       At Talley's Inkster home Monday, a religious tapestry hung 
     on the wall and around the room were others signs of her 
     devotion to God. Asked for the key to her longevity, she gave 
     the answer she has given before:
       ``It's coming from above. That's the best advice I can give 
     you. It's not in my hands or your hands,'' she said, pointing 
     vigorously skyward with both index fingers.
       Talley, born according to U.S. Census records in 1899 in 
     Georgia, came to Michigan in 1935 and said, ``I've been here 
     ever since then.''
       Her advice to the world on the occasion of her having 
     attained a new level of celebrity was a rephrasing of 
     Christianity's Golden Rule: ``I ain't got nothing more but to 
     treat the other fellow like you want to be treated. You don't 
     tell a lie on me so I won't tell a lie on you.''
       Talley is widely known among experts who chart those who 
     monitor the members of a rare worldwide club--the one in 5 
     million humans to live at least 110 years. She bowled until 
     she was 104 and still mowed her lawn until a few years ago, 
     according to previous Free Press reports. Equally amazing, 
     Talley lived alone until seven years ago, when she was joined 
     in the small home under the flight path of Detroit Metro 
     Airport jets by her daughter, Thelma Holloway, 77, and 
     Holloway's daughter, 26, who has added an ever-smiling spark 
     to the supra-centenarian's life--little Armmell, now 2 years 
     old and a frequent visitor to his great-great grandmother's 
     lap.
       On Thursday night, Armmell showed his elder his child-sized 
     computer.
       ``He's fifth-generation,'' Thelma Holloway said, as the two 
     bent over the toy together.
       Kinloch said he's looking forward to taking Talley, despite 
     her advanced age, on their annual fishing trip.
       ``We go to a trout pond in Dexter. She really likes that,'' 
     he said.

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