World's Oldest Living Person Credits Long Life to Living by Golden Rule

Jeralean Talley, who lives in the Detroit suburb of Inkster, credits her long life to “doing the right thing.” She became the oldest living person in the world Monday with the death of a woman in Arkansas, who had held the title for just five days. (Screenshot via YouTube)

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At 115, Jeralean Talley, of Inkster, still thinks there’s not much better than going trout fishing near Dexter, an annual trip she plans to make again this year, God willing.

That’s more than a euphemism.

Talley, the world’s oldest living person, says her long life is a result of God’s grace.

“It’s coming from above. That’s the best advice I can give you. It’s not in my hands or your hands,” Talley told a reporter for the Detroit Free Press, who wrote the bright-eyed supercentenarian gestured skyward with both index fingers to make her point.

Talley claimed the honor of the world’s oldest living person after the last two known people on Earth born in 1898 died just five days apart, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

Misao Okawa of Japan died April 1 at the age of 117, which made Gertrude Weaver of Camden, AR, the world’s oldest living person – a title she held only briefly. Weaver died Monday at 116 of complications of pneumonia.

Talley still lives in a tidy brick ranch house in Inkster, and except for profound hearing loss and some mobility issues that require the use of a walker, she’s “incredibly sharp” and “very aware of what’s going on,” Michael Kinloch, 56, of Canton, a GM engineer, longtime family friend and Talley’s fishing buddy, told the Free Press.

“I feel good,” Talley told TIME in a phone interview Monday. “I don’t feel sick. I’m still trying to do the right thing is all.”

For Talley, “the right thing” is following Christianity’s Golden Rule.

“I ain’t got nothing more but to treat the other fellow like you want to be treated,” she said. “You don’t tell a lie on me, so I won’t tell a lie on you.”

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She also has treated her body as a temple, in accordance with the tenets of her faith. She’s never smoked or drank alcohol, and she bowled until she was 104.

Born in Montrose, GA, in 1899, Talley moved to Michigan in 1935 and has lived in the Detroit area since. Her husband died in 1988, and Talley lived alone until seven years ago, when her daughter, Thelma Holloway, 77, moved in with her.

In 2013, when she turned 114, President Barack Obama called her “part of an extraordinary generation.”

She also is part of a rare worldwide club, according to the experts with the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group. Only one in 5 million humans live to be 110, and she has outlived them.

“The record for the shortest reign is four days, and that was Emma Tillman in 2007 at 114 years old,” Robert Young, director of the supercentenarians division of the Gerontology Research Group, told TIME. “The average title holder keeps the title maybe for about a year. On top of that, we’ve never had two people over 116 years old die in one week before. So now you can close the book on 1898.”

Talley will turn 116 on May 23, again God willing.