Reasons for her longevity? In a 2005 press release from the New York City Housing Authority, Jones attributed her long life to her lifestyle: “I never drink or smoke. I surround myself with love and positive energy,” she said. “That’s the key to long life and happiness.”
Yet, even for Jones, life was full of little luxuries. In 2014, she told Time magazine that every morning for breakfast, she ate four strips of bacon with scrambled eggs and grits.
“Sometimes, she'll take the last strip, fold it in a napkin, put it in her pocket and save it for later,” said her niece Selbra Mushatt.
According to New York Magazine Jones, chewed Doublemint gum.
Another vice of Jones’ was high-end lingerie. Selbra recounted one incident at a doctor’s office: “One time, when she had to get an EKG, the doctors and nurses were surprised to see her wearing that lingerie, and she said, ‘Oh sure, you can never get too old to wear fancy stuff.’”
Jones became the Guinness World Records’ official oldest person when 117-year-old Misao Okawa died in Toyko, Japan in April 2015.
The GRG works with the Guinness World Records’ officials to maintain the database of the Earth’s oldest humans.
According to Young, the unofficial oldest person is now Emma Morano-Martinuzzi, of Verbania, Italy who was born on November 29, 1899.
