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Lucille RandonFrench supercentenarian
Date of Birth: 11.02.1904
Country:  France |
Content:
The Life of Lucile Randon, the World's Oldest Person
Early Life and EducationLucille Randon was born on February 11, 1904, in Alès, France. Her father, Paul Randon, was a schoolteacher. She had a twin sister who died in infancy at 18 months.
In 1915, Lucile moved to live with her brother in Goudan, then St-Étienne-du-Gué-de-l'Isle. In 1916, she worked as a governess for a family in Marseille. In 1920, she moved to Versailles and became a teacher for the children of another family. She later worked as a governess for a different family for 14 years.
Religious Life
Raised in a Protestant household, Lucile converted to Catholicism in 1923 and entered a convent as a postulant. She took the religious name Sister André, after her brother whom she called "father, mother and nanny" all at once.
In 1945, she joined the Vichy Hospital to assist orphans and the elderly, where she worked for 28 years. In 1979, she moved to a convent in Savoy, where she spent 30 years. In 2009, she entered the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in Toulon at the age of 105.
Later Life and Achievements
Her last years were marked by blindness and being confined to a wheelchair since the early 2010s. On her 115th birthday, Pope Francis sent her a personal letter and blessed her rosary. In 2021, she expressed her desire to join her grandparents and brother in heaven.
On her 118th birthday in February 2022, Randon received a congratulatory note from French President Emmanuel Macron. In January 2021, there was a COVID-19 outbreak at her nursing home, and Randon tested positive on January 16. However, she remained asymptomatic and was declared recovered on February 8, making her the oldest known person to survive the pandemic.
Legacy
Lucile Randon died peacefully in her sleep on January 17, 2023, at the age of 118 years and 340 days, at the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home. She is remembered as a remarkable woman who lived a long and fulfilling life, leaving behind a legacy of compassion and resilience.
