Edie Ceccarelli has been delighting and surprising her hometown of Willits for years.
Ceccarelli, who is just under 115, was the country’s second-oldest resident until Tuesday. Then on Tuesday in Iowa, the oldest American, Bessie Hendricks, died at the age of 115 years and 57 days. She had tested positive for her COVID-19 shortly before her death.
With Hendrix’s death, Ceccarelli moves up one of the list of confirmed oldest people on the planet.
Cecarelli, born in Willits on February 5, 1908, is currently number four.
Ceccarelli’s cousin by marriage, Willits Evelyn Persico, last visited Ceccarelli in her room at the small care home last Friday. said it continues.
“When I say, ‘Edie, this is Evelyn,’ she doesn’t really recognize me.”
For most of her life, Ceccarelli was a sparkling, fit, well-groomed woman who loved to dance, take long walks in Willits, and stop by and say hello to company.
For the past two years, she has been sitting outside the tidy Holy Spirit Residential Care Home on her birthday. Dozens of Willits people were parading in fire trucks, police cars and all sorts of decorated vehicles and horses.
It is clear that she does not understand festivals. But when she smiled, shook her hand, and was told it was all her birthday, she proclaimed, “February 5th?”
Persico said she and the rest of Willits hope to celebrate Cecarelli’s birthday again this year.
“She’s tired,” said Persico. “But she has a strong little heart that keeps ticking.”
According to scientists from the Gerontology Research Group, the only person on Earth confirmed to be older than Ceccarelli is Lucille Landon of France, who is 118 years and 327 days old. Maria Brañas Morella of Spain is 115 years and 306 days old, and Tatsumi of Japan is 115 years and 254 days old.
Hazel Plummer of Massachusetts is now the second-oldest American. She is 114 years and 199 days old.
