Daughter of Charity dies aged 118

On 17th January 2023, in Toulon, France, Sister André Randon, a Daughter of Charity and the world’s oldest known person, died at age 118. The Sister Servant at the Saint-Catherine-Labouré nursing home. where she died said: “There was great sadness but it was her desire to join her beloved Lord in heaven. For her, it’s a liberation”.

Sister André, a Catholic convert raised in a Protestant family, was born Lucile Randon on 11th February1904. This was 10 years before the start of World War I. She lived through the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and through 10 pontificates.

An avid listener of Vatican Radio, this French Sister who served the poor for most of her life, sent well wishes to the radio operation on the occasion of its 90th anniversary in 2021. Sister Andre, who was blind, was a “dedicated listener of the radio as it offered her a window of the world” and supported her prayer life.

Last year, for her 118th birthday, Sister André received a birthday card from French President Emmanuel Macron.

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