The Facts

• Maria Branyas Morera, who was born on March 4, 1907 in San Francisco, Calif., has died at the age of 117. She died peacefully in her sleep at a nursing home in the town of Olot in north-eastern Spain, where she spent the last 20 years.

• She lived in other US cities, such as New Orleans, La., where her father wrote for a Spanish-language magazine, but her family moved back to Spain when she was young. She lived through the Franco regime and said she remembered the WWII Normandy invasion vividly.She lived through the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939, both world wars, the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, and the COVID pandemic. She contracted but survived the COVID virus at the age of 113.

• Morera was married to a doctor for 40 years, with whom she had three children and 12 grandchildren. While she endured typical vision, hearing, and mobility issues at her age, there was no indication of any mortal illnesses, and reportedly never showed signs of dementia.Maria Branyas Morera, who was born on March 4, 1907 in San Francisco, Calif., has died at the age of 117. She died peacefully in her sleep at a nursing home in the town of Olot in north-eastern Spain, where she spent the last 20 years.