World's oldest woman dies in Canada

Toronto, Jan 20: Julie Winnefred Bertrand, the world's oldest woman, died early on Thursday at the age of 115 in a Montreal nursing home, CanWest News Service reported.

"Bertrand, who was born on September 16, 1891, in the Quebec town of Coaticook, passed away in her sleep", said Bertrand's 73-year-old nephew, Andre.

Last month, Bertrand was proclaimed the world's oldest living woman and its second oldest person by Guinness World Records after the death of Tennessee woman Elizabeth Bolden, who was born August 15, 1890.

Bertrand's elevation to the title garnered her publicity recently, with a British film crew this week becoming the latest to ask for an interview with her for a documentary on ''extreme agers,'' CanWest said.

Although the crew never received an answer, Andre Bertrand said his aunt never shied away from turning down such requests and did so dozens of times when approached by reporters, researchers and others, CanWest reported.

Bertrand worked as a buyer for a department store in Coaticook, a town close to the US border, it reported.

CanWest said a private family service will be held at the nursing home where Bertrand had been living for the past 35 years, adding that she purchased a burial plot at the Catholic cemetery in Coaticook years ago.

REUTERS