One of America's oldest women reveals her secrets to longevity as 'fun-loving spitfire' celebrates her 105th birthday
Helen Sophis turned 105 on October 10, making her one of the oldest women in America. She has revealed her secrets to longevity as she celebrated her big day.
Published: 15:55 GMT, 24 October 2026 | Updated: 03:34 GMT, 25 October 2026
A 105-year-old Ohio woman, who is known as a 'fun-loving spitfire,' has revealed her secret to longevity.
On October 10, Helen Sophis turned 105 inside the Sunrise Senior Living center in Cuyahoga Falls, near Cleveland.
She sat around her friends, who laughed at her jokes and listened in on her life story and her best advice.
Sophis, a daughter of Greek immigrants, attributes her many long years to eating a Mediterranean diet and staying physically active, she told the Akron Beacon Journal .
'Clean living,' she said. Sophis also attributes her great sense of humor too.
Part of her Mediterranean diet included growing up on her mother's homecooked Greek meals, such as moussaka and pastitsio, she said.
Her parents also owned a Coney Island restaurant that served hot dogs. At night, she used to get tired of serving drunk men their meals and couldn't wait to kick them out and turn the key.
Helen Sophis (pictured with the mayor) turned 105 on October 10, making her one of the oldest women in America
Sophis was also active throughout her life, especially during high school, where she played basketball and volleyball at West High School, which no longer exists.
She also worked at the school's newspaper as its sports editor, a rare position for a girl to hold at the time.
The Ohioan continued playing sports while attending the University of Akron, where she participated in basketball, volleyball, and tennis, she told the outlet.
However, she never got to finish school, as she left it when her sister, Amelia, died at the age of 17, she told the outlet.
She kept up the physical activity in the workplace too, as she was employed at a rubber plant during World War II, she said.
'I had a man's job during the war,' she said. 'All my work was out in the factory.'
Sophis had to keep track of inventories at the plant. After the war, she took an office job at the factory, where she operated a comptometer, a key-driven mechanical calculator.
What do you think truly matters most for living a long, happy life, diet, activity, or mindset?
She credits her Mediterrean diet and physical activity for keeping her alive for so long
She was also a star golfer on the company's team, where she won several tournaments, she told The Journal.
However, the one time she hit a hole-in-one, instead of going back to buy a round of drinks, she kept playing the holes.
'I said to myself: "How am I going to do that? I can’t afford to buy everybody a drink." I kept playing and playing, and finally we went in, and everybody had gone home,' she laughed.
After retiring from the factory, she got a job at the mall to help supplement her income.
Sophis' nursing home friends described the centenarian as a 'fiesta' and 'determined spitfire,' as well as a 'wealth of knowledge.'
'But most importantly, she’s a very giving person,' friend Paul Cincotta told The Journal.
'She’s amazing,' another friend, Jamie Wood, told the outlet. 'Just a beautiful person … 105? That’s a blessing. And she is a blessing.'
Sophis, who was born in 1921, never married, although she did have one boyfriend she dated for many years, so she told the outlet.
The oldest living woman in North America is Naomi Whitehead, who is 116 years old
She is the sole survivor of her family, as her brother, John, passed away in 2017 at the age of 94, and her nephew, Stephen, died in 2024 at the age of 60.
'I’ve got a lot of good friends, and they include me in a lot of things,' she told The Journal.
She plays bingo and makes crafts at the nursing home with her friends, she said.
As for her old age, she said she feels better than when she was a teenager.
'I feel really good. I feel better now than I did when I was 16,' she said.
Sophis is one of the oldest women in America, just a smidge behind Naomi Whitehead, who is 116 years old.
The Pennsylvania woman is believed to be the oldest person living in North America.
Whitehead has never drunk or smoked, and credits her longevity to good genes and enjoying her hobbies, like baking and cooking.
