America’s Oldest Living Person, Elizabeth Francis, Dies at 115. She Was a Supercentenarian and ‘Houstonian Icon’

Elizabeth Francis, known as the oldest living person in the United States, died in her Houston home surrounded by family last week at the age of 115.

Longeviquest, a database of the world’s oldest individuals, wrote in a statement that Francis “was a Houstonian icon and a cherished member of the community.”

At the time of Francis’ death, she was the third-oldest person in the world and the 54th oldest person to ever live, according to Longeviquest. She was also the 21st oldest American on record.

Born on July 25, 1909, in Louisiana, Francis moved to Galveston, Texas, when she was 11 years old to live with her aunt after her mother died. She spent most of her life in Houston, where she gave birth to her only child Dorothy Williams in 1928, raised her as a single mother and operated a coffee shop at ABC13 News in Houston for two decades, until she retired in 1975.

Francis was a supercentenarian, one of a special class of individuals who have lived to be 110 years and older. Supercentenarians today have seen it all: both world wars, multiple pandemics, the development of countless technologies and numerous social changes. For reference, when Francis was born in 1909, many Black people in the United States could not vote, only gaining full enfranchisement in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, when Francis would have been 56.

Last year, ABC 13’s Melanie Lawson interviewed Francis for her 114th birthday, when she made history as the oldest living person in Texas. When asked about how she’s lived for so long, Francis said she doesn’t smoke or drink, but she eats “everything.”

Ethel Harrison, Francis’ granddaughter and caregiver, added that she believes her grandmother’s lifestyle contributed to her long life. “She always grew her vegetables in the backyard. I never saw her go to a fast food restaurant much, like Chick-fil-A and all the places I liked to go. She never did that,” Harrison told ABC 13 at the time. 

Additionally, Francis walked or took the bus wherever she went, since she never learned to drive, Harrison told the Washington Post’s Cathy Free in July, citing that activity as another potential reason for her grandmother’s longevity.

Francis’ long life runs in the family: Her sister Bertha Johnson, who died in 2011, lived to be 106 years old, making the two sisters one of the oldest sibling pairs by total age in world history, Longeviquest wrote last year. Francis’ daughter is currently 96 years old, and her granddaughter is 69. 

During the 114th birthday celebration, when a visitor asked Francis for life advice, she replied, “If the good Lord gives it to you, use it! Speak your mind, don’t bite your tongue,” according to Longeviquest.

Harrison tells Shafiq Najib of Good Morning America that her grandmother was a woman of strong faith whose motto was, “treat people like you want to be treated.”

“She loved the Lord. Her faith was extremely strong,” Harrison said. “She was always, you know, jolly, you know, ‘how you doing? You’re doing okay?’ That was just her personality.”

As Francis gained notoriety for her long life, she received letters and visits from community members and politicians, writes CNN’s Dawn Sawyer. On her 115th birthday this year, Francis got a letter from Barack and Michelle Obama.

“Over the course of one century, you have made extraordinary memories and woven your own unique story into the American narrative,” the letter said, per CNN. “You are part of a generation who summoned the compassion and strength to guide our country through some of our greatest challenges and triumphs, and we trust you take tremendous pride in all you have contributed to our great nation.”

Now, Naomi Whitehead, a 114-year-old supercentenarian residing in Greenville, Pennsylvania, is the oldest living person in the United States. Francis is survived by three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.

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Olatunji Osho-Williams is an intern with Smithsonian magazine.