Simone Lesage

Simone Lesage was a French centenarian who was born in Hauts-de-Seine department, France, on 7 October 1902, though she lived her last years in Aisne, France, having been a resident at the Saint-Georges retirement home since moving in on 16 May 1989 at 86 years of age.
A seamstress and hat-maker in her youth, Lesage was first featured in the media following her 105th birthday in October 2007. It was on that occasion that it was reported she still worked on hats for nothing in return, though the nursing home staff who received them preferred to preserve them instead of wearing them.
Lesage was said to have had a weakness for candy and chocolates, described in translation to be a "guilty pleasure" of hers.
She was reported on once more for her 108th birthday in 2010, an event that the nursing home staff, including its director, Raphaël Gayraud, was heavily involved in. She received various gifts on that occasion, including chocolates, flowers, angel statuettes, and even perfume from Chanel, a fashion company based in France. She was reported to still retain her taste for fine dresses, brought on by the work she had done in her youth. It was said that when she was happy, "her eyes would light up", but when she was unhappy with something, "it would show right away".
She was once more featured in the media on her 109th birthday, along with two other residents of her nursing home, who were also celebrating their birthdays that week. She was said to have put no effort into hiding her joy on that day, as she was "bombarded" with gifts, including a bottle of Chanel No. 5, Chanel's best-selling perfume.

Lesage on her 109th birthday

On that occasion, she took time to admire her gifts one after the other, selecting chocolates to taste and stroking the dresses she had received, assisted by her nurse, Christine Teissedre.
Gayraud also stated on that occasion that Lesage took no medication and was mostly healthy. Though she married sometime in her youth, she had neither children nor family. She was said to have compensated for this with the friends she made while at the nursing home.
She did not ordinarily speak in her last years, something that was attributed to her deteriorating hearing. Despite this, she was able to express herself in other ways, such as the way she shook the hands of those who came to see her.
Lesage died in the morning of 22 February 2012, aged 109 years, 138 days. Her death was said to have caused considerable emotion among the staff at her nursing home, several of whom were said to have been looking forward to celebrating her 110th birthday that October.