World's oldest person dies at age 116 December 5, 2012 -- Updated 0213 GMT (1013 HKT) Besse Cooper lived in Monroe, Georgia, and her son says she died peacefully She once said she lived so long because she watched what she ate and didn't cause trouble Only eight people have ever been documented to have lived to age 116. (CNN) -- Besse Cooper, the world's oldest person, died Tuesday. She was 116. Cooper died in Monroe, Georgia, about 45 minutes east of Atlanta. Her son Sidney said his mother "had a long, good life. She went very easy. Her best years were when she was in her 80s, he said. Born August 26, 1896, Besse Cooper gained the distinction of being oldest living human from Guinness World Records in January 2011. She briefly moved to second on the list when the record keepers found a woman in Brazil who was 48 days older, but Maria Gomes Valentim died in June 2011, just weeks before her 115th birthday. When asked for her secret, Cooper told the Guinness website: "I mind my own business. And I don't eat junk food. The oldest person to have ever lived, according to Guinness World Records, was Jeanne Louise Calment. She died in southern France in 1997 at the age of 122.