The French Catholic nun; Sister André, who has been known since April 2022 as the oldest person in the world, has died. She died in her sleep on January 17th at her nursing home in Toulon, in the south of France, announced its spokesperson to AFP on Tuesday evening. " She died at 2 a.m. there is great sadness but she wanted it, it was her desire to join her adored brother. For her, it is a release”, explained David Tavell, communication officer at accommodation establishment for the elderly dependent Sainte-Catherine-Labouré where she resided.
Her status had been verified The Guinness Book of Records, after the death at 119 of the Japanese Kane Tanaka.
For several years, she had not hidden a certain weariness: she wanted to "
withdraw from this case”. But "the good Lord does not hear me", she confided to AFP.
Wheelchair bound, blind, Sister André, was born as Lucile Randon on February 11th, 1904. She was born in Alès, in the south of France. "They say that work kills, me it's work that made me live I worked up to 108 years old, ”she said.
Her story is that of a late conversion, which led her to give her life to
Christ. After losing her very young twin sister, Lucile met Christ at the age of 26. “It was sweetness and consolation. A big help,” she says. Despite
growing up in a Protestant family, with a pastor grandfather, she chose to
to be baptized in the Catholic Church, in the Saint-François-Kavier church (Paris) accompanied her older brother Andrew to the church on Sundays. “When I converted André cried, he wanted to mend. Then he accepted”, She took the same name as her beloved brother as a religious. He was everything to her, 'at the same time a father and a mother”.
It was not until 1944, at the age of 40, that she joined the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint-Vincent-de-Peulrue du Bec in Paris. The following year, she joined the Vichy hospital, where she remained twenty eight years. Sister André then took care of forty orphans. Some of whom found her much later, thanks to the Internet. Since she came to Toulon, the nun has never missed a daily Mass.
The home St. Catherine de Labouré where she resided wrote:
It is with immense sadness and enormous emotion that I have just learned of the death of Sister André.
Born in 1904, Sister André, Lucile Randon by her first name and Christian name, would have been 119 years old on February 11th. She was the dean of humanity and it was thanks to her remarkable age that she had won the hearts of all French people.
But beyond the symbol she represented for having crossed the century and experienced two world wars, Sister André was above all a deeply good and endearing woman, turned towards others.
Humanity loses its oldest tonight.
France is losing a nun with a big heart, who generously shared her experience of life. She had drawn during her existence rich in encounters and experiences, an immense wisdom and an infinite love for others.
Our City of Toulon is losing a Toulonnaise at heart, of whom Sister André had also become Honorary Citizen 4 years ago. She arrived in 2009 at the EHPAD Sainte Catherine Labouré. She had discovered our city with interest and passion and had become deeply attached to it.
For my part, I lose a woman whom I esteemed deeply.
I went to visit her regularly and I appreciated her humanity, her spirituality but also her sense of humor and the relevance with which she felt our time. She had a straight talk, a real spontaneity for a person born in 1904. She had evolved with the times, she was incredibly modern and told me frankly what she thought of this new century.
I liked his company. Very tired by the various COVIDs that she contracted in her last years, she ended up joining Heaven which guided her steps all her life.
I would like to sincerely thank all the staff of the Sainte-Catherine Labouré nursing home who watched over her with kind attention until the end and I offer my deepest condolences to all of her congregation.
Sister André, rest in peace.
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