101-year-old Jordanian passes away

AMMAN — After living for more than a century, Salamah Qudah passed away last week surrounded by his 16 children and nearly 100 grandchildren. 

Born in 1915, the Karak resident lived a "long life free of any serious illness and enjoyed a sharp memory until his last day", according to Mohammad Qudah, one of his grandsons. 

"My grandfather remained in a very good shape until his death," he told The Jordan Times, noting that his grandfather "used to eat everything that modern society perceives as dangerous". 

"It is true that he never ate at restaurants, but he used to be obsessed with ghee, bread, oil and milk, and consumed them on daily basis," Mohammad said. 

While noting that his grandfather had an "encyclopaedic knowledge of historical events that took place during his lifetime, the one story that he kept recounting is the time when his dad was sentenced to death by the Ottomans and was freed in the last minute for no apparent reason".

"He used to tell us stories about how the Ottoman rule was against education and how they suffered during that era," said Mohammad. 

The deceased Qudah has an older brother, Suleiman, who is now 115. 

"Great uncle Suleiman was born in 1906 and yet he is in a better shape than my grandfather was," Mohammad noted.