Photo courtesy of The Post-Star newspaper.
Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in the year 1878,
as of December 21, 2019.
On her 108th birthday:
Photo courtesy of The Post-Star newspaper.
Lillie Cote was born in New York, United States on May 16, 1878 and died in the same state on July 24, 1988 at the age of 110 years, 69 days.
Aged 109:
Photo courtesy of Gazette Eastern Iowa newspaper.
Grace Cottrell was born in Pennsylvania, United States on April 1, 1878 and died in California, United States on January 10, 1989 at the age of 110 years, 284 days.
This photo was sourced from ABC Hemeroteca.
Aurelio Diaz-Campillo was born in Tielve, Asturias, Spain on October 16, 1878 and died in the same place on June 13, 1989 at the age of 110 years, 240 days. On October 16, 1988 he became the first Spanish male supercentenarian. At the time of his death, Diaz-Campillo was the oldest living person in Spain. His Spanish male longevity record was broken by Galo Leoz-Ortin in 1989.
As a young boy in the 1880s, Diaz-Campillo worked with livestock on the family farm. At the age of 10, he moved to Seville, where he worked at a charcuterie. He enlisted to fight in the Spanish-American War and was sent to Cuba in January 1898 for active duty. After the war, he returned to Spain where he married and had 12 children. In the final years of his life, Diaz-Campillo was completely deaf and had limited movement ability. He was the last surviving veteran of the Spanish-American War.
Photos courtesy of ancestry.com.
May 4, 2018; Claire Dunning was born in New York, United States on August 20, 1878 and died in Florida, United States on September 27, 1990 at the age of 112 years, 38 days.
Aged 101:
Photo courtesy of Thanet Times.
May 19, 2019; Mary Fewster was born in Hexham, Northumberland, United Kingdom on February 6, 1878 and died in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, United Kingdom on December 26, 1989 at the age of 111 years, 323 days.
Aged 100:
Aged 106:
Emmie Fulmer was born in South Carolina, United States on November 21, 1878 and died in the same state on December 21, 1989 at the age of 111 years, 30 days.
Photo courtesy of FamilySearch.
December 21, 2019; Alton Gilbert was born in Michigan, United States on June 11, 1878 and died in Washington, United States on January 21, 1989 at the age of 110 years, 224 days.
With her husband James Green in the late 1940s or early 1950s:
In 1980 with her daughter (Winifred Wardman), granddaughter (Diane Johansen) and great granddaughter (Lisa Hardert):
Photos provided by Diane Johansen.
Ellen Green was born in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom on July 19, 1878 and died in British Columbia, Canada on December 4, 1988 at the age of 110 years, 138 days.
On her 109th birthday:
Photo courtesy of York Daily Record.
June 9, 2019; Minnie Livingston was born in Pennsylvania, United States on August 8, 1878 and died in the same state on October 24, 1988 at the age of 110 years, 77 days.
Aged 110:
Julia Lyng was born in Trondelag, Norway on December 22, 1878 and died in Minnesota, United States on February 26, 1990 at the age of 111 years, 66 days.
Girl standing in between the two boys:
Woman standing in the back, third from right with the striped blouse:
Both photos sourced from A History of the Sears Family
August 2, 2017; Odie Matthews was born in Whitewright, Texas, United States on December 28, 1878 and died in Phoenix, Arizona, United States on April 14, 1993 at the age of 114 years, 107 days. At the time of her death, she was the second oldest person in the United States and the third oldest in the world.
Born as Oda Deringer Sears, she married Daniel Matthews in Talor, Texas and had two children. The family moved to Arizona in the 1920s and her husband died in 1933.
Aged 97:
On the left, aged 102, with her 105 year old sister:
Aged 109:
The first photo was sourced from Rebekah Lodge Book Clippings.
The second photo was came from an article in The Paris News.
Nancy McCown was born in Texas, United States on September 22, 1878 and died in the same state on June 8, 1989 at the age of 110 years, 259 days.
Picture sourced from a blog: http://keesthies.com/2014/06/28/te-oud-om-te-tobben-dat-wil-ik-wel-bereiken/
On his 111th birthday:
Jan Machiel Reyskens was born in Genk, Belgium on May 11, 1878 and died in Dordrecht, South Holland, Netherlands on January 7, 1990 at the age of 111 years, 241 years. On January 12, 1987, he became the oldest living man in the Netherlands, following the death of Albert Geerlings. On December 8th, 1987, he became the oldest living person in the Netherlands, following the death of Christina van Druten-Hoogakker. On September 24, 1988, he became the oldest man ever to live in the Netherlands, surpassing the long standing record of Geert Adriaans Boomgaard, who had held this record for more than 80 years. At the time of his death, he was the second oldest man in the world. He remains the oldest Belgian man ever and the oldest man ever to die in the Netherlands.
After both of Reyskens parents died when he was just a child, he went to live with a stepfather for the remaining years of his childhood. In 1897, Reyskens did military service. Soon afterwards, he left Genk and travelled gradually through Belgium, living briefly in Bilzen, Herstal, Charleroi and Brussels. Reyskens went on foot to the Netherlands, and settled in Eindhoven, where he married and had two children. In 1917, he settled his family in Dordrecht, where he was to live for the rest of his life. Reyskens worked in the local plastics factory until 1947, when he retired at the age of 69. By this time, both his children had emigrated to Australia and his wife died in 1964. Reyskens continued to live alone until 1977, when a heart attack forced him to move into Huize Avondzon, a retirement home of the Salvation Army. Reyskens remained mentally alert and in fairly good physical shape until a week before his death over 12 years later, moving freely with the use of a cane.
Aged 54:
Julia Savage was born in West Virginia, United States on September 11, 1878 and died in the same state on August 7, 1989 at the age of 110 years, 330 days.
Aged 44:
Grace-Lillian Schaffner was born in Ontario, Canada on November 28, 1878 and died in Michigan, United States on December 26, 1989 at the age of 111 years, 28 days.
Aged 110:
Aged 113:
Aged 114:
Waka Shirahama was born in Kagoshima, Japan on March 23, 1878 and died in Miyazaki, Japan on June 16, 1992 at the age of 114 years, 85 days. Shirahama was the oldest living person in Japan for around 5 years. On July 5, 1991, she passed the final age of Niwa Kawamoto and became the oldest verified Japanese person ever. Her Japanese longevity record was broken by Tane Ikai in 1993. She remains the oldest person ever from Miyazaki.
Margaret Skeete was born in Rockport, Texas, United States on October 27, 1878 and died in Radford, Virginia, United States on May 7, 1994 at the age of 115 years, 192 days. She became the oldest living person in the United States on March 21, 1993, following the death of Lucy Hannah. At the time of her death, she was the second oldest person in the world, after Jeanne Calment. She remains the oldest person ever born in Texas and the oldest person ever to die in Virginia.
Born as Margaret Seward, she married Renn Skeete in 1907, with whom she went on to have three children. After her husband died in 1953, she moved from Texas to Virginia to live with her eldest daughter. Skeete was unimpressed by her longevity. When television cameras visited her home to commemorate her 114th birthday, she was nonplussed. "Old folks are not very interesting", she said. At her 115th birthday party, when asked about her longevity, she said "I guess that's something, but it doesn't buy me anything." She remained in relatively good health until suffering a fall three weeks prior to her death, after which she became bedridden. Her daughter said she maintained a craving for sweets until a few weeks before her death.
Skeete outlived two of her three children and the other became a centenarian. After her death, the one surviving daughter described Skeete as "feisty", and said she always insisted on trying to walk with her walker, even after the last, most serious fall. Her daughter added "She went camping with us when she was 75 - you'd have thought she was about 40."
Aged 110:
Aged 111:
The first photo is courtesy of Getty Images.
Nellie Thompson was born in Ontario, Canada October 21, 1878 and died in the same province on November 27, 1989 at the age of 111 years, 37 days. At the time of her death, she was the oldest living person in Canada.
Kristianna Ullaland was born in Vestlandet, Norway on December 2, 1878 and died in the same province on January 26, 1989 at the age of 110 years, 55 days. At the time of her death, she was the oldest person ever from Vestlandet. Her Vestlandet longevity record was broken by Laura Svehaug in 1997.
Here ends the Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in 1878. Click on a link below to view our Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in another year.