Camden resident Gertrude Weaver, who held the title of world's oldest person for less than a week, died Monday surrounded by family at Ouachita County Medical Center after a short battle with pneumonia. She was 116.
Mary Bennett, who is married to Weaver's grandson, said the family formed a prayer circle around her bed in the intensive care unit as her life gradually slipped away Monday morning.
They aren't saddened by Weaver's death, Bennett said. Instead, "we are celebrating the tremendous and wonderful life that she was able to live," she said.
Weaver gained the title of world's oldest person, along with international attention, Wednesday when 117-year-old Misao Okawa of Osaka, Japan, died. Now, those next in line for the title are Jeralean Talley, 115, of Michigan and Susannah Mushatt Jones, also 115, of New York.
Kathy Langley, administrator of the Silver Oaks Health and Rehabilitation Center, where Weaver lived since 2009, said Weaver's pneumonia came on suddenly and progressed rapidly over the past few days.
"We are all just heartbroken, of course," Langley said. "She was a very special person and so much a part of all of us here."
Langley said Weaver was very active for her age, taking most of her meals in the dining room and attending church services there with her son, Joe Weaver, who turns 94 today. A message left for Joe Weaver wasn't returned Monday.
George Smith, pastor of the Greater St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, where Weaver was a longtime member, called her a "very special woman to me and my wife."
"She would always say to me, 'I pray for you and your wife.' She always kept a level mind; her mind never left her," Smith said. "There were gallons and gallons of water that went under her bridge, and this is a great loss for us."
In previous interviews, Weaver attributed her longevity to "treating everybody good" and eating home-cooked meals. When she became the world's oldest person last week, Silver Oaks received hundreds of calls from well-wishers and media members from around the world.
Bennett said Weaver enjoyed the attention from her new-found fame. It only added to her zest for life, she said.
"She basked in it all," Bennett said. "She told me that she had accomplished everything on her bucket list and was just waiting for her time to go meet the Lord. She loved the Lord and depended on him for guidance."
Weaver's age was confirmed several years ago by the Gerontology Research Group when she was named the oldest American, said Robert Young, a senior database administrator for the group. Founded in 1990, the group is used by Guinness World Records to determine who qualifies for its "World's Oldest Living People" category.
Weaver caught the attention of the Gerontology Research Group in 2010, two years after Silver Oaks began publicizing her age and birthday celebrations.
According to the Ouachita-Calhoun Genealogical Society, Weaver was born near the Red River between Garland and Lewisville to Charles and Ophelia Gaines. Her parents married March 7, 1885, in Lafayette County but were separated by 1900. At that time, Weaver was the youngest of six living children.
On July 17, 1915, Weaver married Gennie Weaver, and the couple moved in the early 1930s to Camden, where Gennie Weaver made a living painting and papering houses and Gertrude Weaver found work as a housekeeper.
The Weavers lived for several years in Los Angeles before they returned to Arkansas in the 1970s.
Weaver was an avid sports fan in her later years, known for calling the Hogs, and was active in politics.
She had said she voted for President Barack Obama twice and hoped he could attend her birthday celebration this July.
Meeting the president was about the only thing Weaver didn't accomplish in her long life, but she held no regrets, Bennett said.
"When you live that long, surrounded by love and family and a love for God, what is there left to accomplish?" Bennett said. "She has gone on to do what she wanted to do most of all. She has gone to meet the Lord."
State Desk on 04/07/2015