A 115-year-old Nebraska woman who recently became the oldest person in America - and who attributed her longevity to never having children - has died.
Thelma Sutcliffe, of Omaha, died at the age of 115 years and 108 days at an assisted living facility on Monday - eight months after becoming the oldest living person in the US.
The cause of death has yet to be revealed.
'She died very peacefully,' said Sutcliffe's friend, Luella Mason.
'It was time, she was ready.'
Sutcliffe credit her long life to never having children, never smoking, and 'never worrying about anything', she told AARP in May 2021.
She had survived two bouts of breast cancer over the course of her life.
Thelma Sutcliffe, center, is shown with a birthday cake in October 2019, in Omaha, Nebraska Sutcliffe for her 114th birthday
Sutcliffe, pictured, who was the oldest person in the US, died on Monday at age 115, according to a family member
Pictured: a photograph of Thelma as a young woman, possibly her engagement photo, according to her friend Luella Mason
Bessie Hendricks is now the oldest validated person living in the United States at 114 years and 75 days following Sutcliffe's death on Monday, however American-born Maria Branyas Morera, who lives in Spain, is technically the oldest at 114 years and 323 days old.
Prior to her passing, Sutcliffe's hearing and sight had significantly deteriorated, however, Mason said her mind was still 'very sharp' at the time of her death.
The super-centenarian had taken the place of the nation's oldest living person and seventh-oldest in the
