A CENTURY AND MORE: AMERICAN’S OLDEST LIVING PERSON TURNS 116

Naomi Whitehead was born a year and a half before the Titanic sank. On September 26, 2026, she celebrated her 116th birthday. Born Naomi Washington on a farm near Patterson, Georgia, in 1910, she entered the world during William Howard Taft’s presidency. As a young girl, she picked cotton and tobacco and grew up around horses, carrying those vivid memories into her second century.

She married Sylvester Whitehead in 1930, and together they raised three sons. Over the decades, her family grew to include grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-great-grandchildren. Though she outlived her husband, who passed away in 1979, and all three of her sons, Naomi continues to draw strength from her deep roots. Today, she resides at St. Paul’s Senior Living Community near Greenville, Pennsylvania.

Relatives attribute her extraordinary longevity to a clean, active lifestyle, a deep faith, and a lifelong devotion to singing hymns. In October 2024, Naomi became the oldest living person in the United States, and by early 2026, she was verified as the second-oldest living person globally, behind only Ethel Caterham of the United Kingdom.

Naomi has lived through two World Wars, the Great Depression, the advent of television, the moon landing, and the digital revolution. Born when commercial radio was nonexistent, her 116th birthday is now celebrated around the globe instantly. Yet, beyond the grand sweep of history, her true miracle remains simple: a woman who grew up on a Georgia farm, still singing, still remembering, and still surrounded by generations of family.