A Houston woman recently celebrated her 115th birthday, making her the oldest living person in the United States.

Elizabeth Francis is part of an elite group of “supercentenarians,” or people who have lived over 100 years. More than 97,000 people in the United States are classified as centenarians, but there are far fewer supercentenarians, according to information from the World Economic Forum. Francis’ granddaughter, Ethel Harrison, told Fox News Digital, “She’s just always enjoyed giving. I remember whenever we had a ceremony or if we had an event, she was our biggest cheerleader.”

Harrison continued, “She was always there, and she was always encouraging you to go on. Her main objective is to treat people the way you would want to be treated. I think that’s something that kind of stuck with me all my life.” Born in Louisiana on July 25, 1909, Francis has lived through two world wars and global pandemics. She never drove a car but worked outside the home, running the coffee shop at ABC’s Channel 13 in Houston during the 1970s and 80s.

Francis attributes her long life to the Lord. She told Fox News Digital, “Just the Lord working with me and keeping me here.” She said she used to walk for exercise, ate plenty of fresh vegetables and chicken to keep healthy and avoided “the bad stuff” like drinking and smoking. “She had her own garden, and she would eat whatever vegetables she raised, like mustard greens,” Harrison said. She also liked to share her home and food with others.

Harrison said, “One quality is that she was always giving. She was always cooking, and someone was always at the house eating. There was always food on the table. The gentleman that she actually rented her home from would come and eat breakfast over there in the mornings. She also shared whatever she grew in the garden with her neighbors.” Francis lives at home with her daughter Dorothy Williams, who is 94. She has three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren, all of whom were there for her big birthday.

Born during the time of President William Howard Taft, when 90 percent of U.S. babies were born at home, and women and black citizens could not vote, Francis’ life has spanned significant historical events. Her longevity is seen as a blessing by her family, who describe her as a wonderful mother and grandmother and their “backbone.”

When asked why she’d lived so long, she simply said, “This is a blessing, the Lord’s blessing.”