Ruth Hilliard’s eyesight is not what it used to be, but the North Carolina woman stills love to quote Scripture.

Hilliard’s favourite passage is Psalm 91:15-16 —”He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

The psalm begins by announcing that “the one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.” Hilliard sees her own life as being under that protection, having answered God’s call and been shown his salvation and satisfied with long life (as Psalm 91:15-16 suggests).

Born on June 5, 1913, Hilliard was a school teacher for decades and enjoyed mentoring children. The North Carolina House of Representatives honoured her latest birthday with a certificate of special recognition.

While Hilliard’s age is impressive, the oldest person in the world is Kane Tanaka, a Japanese woman who is 116 years old.

The oldest living person in Australia is reported to be 110-year-old Agnes Kluckhenn, who was born in Scotland in 1909.