Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in the year 1884,
as of August 21, 2019.
Aged 75, with her husband on their 50th wedding anniversary:
January 26, 2016; Hattie Bowden was born in Illinois, United States on February 18, 1884 and died in the same state on on November 24, 1994 at the age of 110 years, 279 days.
As a younger woman:
In her retirement:
Aged 108:
The first photo was sourced from her Find a Grave page.
Blanche Burch was born in Ohio, United States on October 3, 1884 and died in the same state on October 15, 1994 at the age of 110 years, 12 days. When asked for the secret to her longevity, she said "I don't have a secret. I've always had to work. That's the best thing for you."
With her husband:
As an older woman:
April 26, 2015; Bettie Chatmon was born in Mansfield, De Soto, Louisiana, United States on April 30, 1884 and died in Houston, Harris, Texas, United States on August 16, 1998 at the age of 114 years, 108 days. At the time of her death, Chatmon was the oldest living person in Texas and the second oldest living person in America and the world (after Sarah Knauss). She was also the oldest person ever born in Louisiana and the oldest person ever to die in Texas, although both of these records were broken by Eunice Sanborn in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
Born as Bettie Washington, she married Joe Chatmon in 1903 and had 11 children, four of whom died in infancy. Her husband worked in the steel industry and Bettie worked as a midwife whenever her services were needed. The family moved to Texas in the 1920s, then back to Louisiana before returning to Texas in 1943. She was widowed in 1955. A daughter described her as "rarely ever excited", but she enjoyed fishing and going to church. Chatmon said "I love God. I've kept him long by my side all the way down to now."
In the words of family members: "She loved everybody - she still does. When you were cooking, she'd want you to cook enough for everybody. She'd say, 'Somebody might come along and be hungry'... If she had one apple and 20 children, she could cut that apple up so that every child got a taste of it. They knew (she) wouldn't let them down."
Aged 103:
Aged 108:
January 21, 2016; Elizabeth Fisher was born in Minnesota, United States on January 15, 1884 and died in Washington, United States on August 3, 1996 at the age of 112 years, 201 days.
Emile Fourcade aged 108:
May 9, 2015; Emile Fourcade was born in Tlemcen, Algeria on July 29, 1884 and passed away in Grenoble, Isere department, Rhone-Alpes, France on December 29, 1995 at the age of 111 years, 153 days. At the time of his death, Fourcade was the oldest living man in Europe.
May 21, 2015; Luther Goding was born in Nebraska, United States on July 1, 1884 and passed away in the same state on December 5, 1995 at the age of 111 years, 157 days. He remains the oldest man ever from Nebraska.
April 26, 2015; Annie Jennings was born on November 12, 1884 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, and died in the same town on November 20, 1999 at the age of 115 years, 8 days. At the time of her death, Jennings was the oldest person in Europe and the second oldest person in the world (after Sarah Knauss). She remains the oldest person ever from the East Midlands region of England, the second oldest British person ever and one of only two British people ever to reach the age of 115.
Jennings married Louis Jennings in 1931 but never had children. She lived her professional life as a teacher. A very private person, Jennings strongly disapproved of being in the Guinness Book as she disliked the attention it brought.
As a young woman:
January 26, 2016; Ida Keen was born in Maine, United States on March 1, 1884 and died in California, United States on September 24, 1994 at the age of 110 years, 207 days.
Aged 110:
Photo sourced from Lancaster New Era.
August 21, 2019; Minnie King was born in Pennsylvania, United States on October 21, 1884 and died in the same state on April 30, 1995 at the age of 110 years, 191 days.
May 21, 2015; Clara Kirchner was born in Nebraska, United States on October 3, 1884 and passed away in the same state on December 9, 1994 at the age of 110 years, 67 days.
An undated photo:
Aged 109:
April 26, 2015; Tase Matsunaga was born on May 11, 1884 in Kiyosato, Niigata, Japan, and died in Mutsumien, Tokyo, Japan on November 18, 1998 at the age of 114 years, 191 days. At the time of her death, Matsunaga was the oldest living person in Japan, the second oldest person in the world (after Sarah Knauss) and the third oldest person ever from Japan. She remains the oldest person ever born in Niigata prefecture and the oldest person ever to die in Tokyo prefecture.
Although born in Kiyosato, Tase Matsunaga moved to Tokyo when she was still young. She originally worked as a farmer, married and had children. She moved from Tokyo to Mutsumien in 1983, at the age of 99. Matsunaga remained well enough to continue gardening until the very advanced age of 112, but was bedridden at the end of her long life.
May 21, 2015; Anne Matthiesen was born in Syddanmark, Denmark on November 26, 1884 and passed away in the same region on March 19, 1996 at the age of 111 years, 114 days. She is the oldest person ever to die in Denmark, although two Danish emigrants have lived longer.
Photo sourced from a Japanese supercentenarian forum and https://www.aflo.com.
March 4, 2017; Suekiku Miyanaga was born in Japan on April 7, 1884 and died in Osumi, Kagoshima, Japan on June 20, 1998 at the age of 114 years, 74 days. On May 4, 1997, she became the oldest living person in Japan, following the death of Sue Utagawa. She was the oldest person ever to die in Kagoshima, although a couple of Kagoshima born people have lived longer.
Miyanaga married in 1908 and eventually had 11 children. A vegetarian, she had a passion for music and played the guitar until the age of 107. She outlived all but two of her children.
Photo sourced from Chicago Tribune.
May 14, 2019; Della Norwood was born in Mississippi, United States on October 26, 1884 and died in Illinois, United States on July 8, 1995 at the age of 110 years, 255 days.
Various newspaper clippings on Chester Pushie (prepared by "Bill and Nina (Pushie) Falconer" here):
At age 108:
At his 110th birthday:
March 21, 2014; Chester Pushie was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, on June 24, 1884. He died on July 22, 1994, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, at the age of 110 years 28 days.
Photo sourced from centrodeestudiosgeneralzumalacarregui.
March 26, 2019; Pablo Roy Morales was born in Castile-La Mancha, Madrid on January 15, 1884 and died in Madrid, Spain on January 26, 1994 at the age of 110 years, 11 days. On January 20, 1994 he became the oldest living man in Spain, following the death of Jose Armengol Jover.
Photo courtesy of Hartford Courant.
May 21, 2015; Amalia Ruggieri-Barone was born in San Lorenzo, Campania, Italy on October 6, 1884 and passed away in Connecticut, United States on June 26, 1998 at the age of 113 years, 263 days. At the time of her death, she was the oldest ever person of Italian descent, although this record was broken by Virginia Dighero-Zolezzi in 2005.
Amalia Ruggieri-Barone moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States, in 1904 and secured employment in a rubber factory where she made galoshes. After returning to Italy briefly, she moved to New Haven, Connecticut, United States. In 1913, she married Salvatore Barone and they opened a grocery store until 1945. She was a member of her local church for 90 years, and for a short time acted as its President. She was also an active volunteer at a local Orphanage. At the age of 105, Ruggieri-Barone was grand marshal of New Haven's Columbus Day parade.
As a young woman:
Aged 108:
Photo sourced from Daily News.
April 20, 2016; Luisa Sanchez was born in New York, United States on February 14, 1884 and died in the same state on October 5, 1996 at the age of 112 years, 234 days.
On the far right:
Photos sourced from family genealogy pages.
August 14, 2019; Bradshaw Sims was born in Missouri, United States on May 15, 1884 and died in California, United States on February 18, 1995 at the age of 110 years, 279 days.
Photo courtesy of Akron Beacon Journal.
October 13, 2016; Lena Sloat was born in Ohio, United States on May 21, 1884 and died in the same state on November 27, 1994 at the age of 110 years, 190 days.
April 26, 2015; Asa Takii was born on April 28, 1884 in Hiroshima, Japan, and died in the same city on July 31, 1998 at the age of 114 years, 94 days. At the time of her death, Takii was the oldest living person in Japan, the second oldest person in the world (after Sarah Knauss) and the oldest person ever from Hiroshima. Her Hiroshima longevity record was broken by Mitoyo Kawate in 2003.
Asa Takii was 61 when the Hiroshima bomb hit her home city. Tragically, she was the sole survivor from her family. It killed both her husband and all her other relatives. Takii said that she was washing clothes when she saw a huge flash.
Aged 88, second from right:
March 1, 2017; Gengan Tonaki was born in Okinawa, Japan on October 30, 1884 and died in the same prefecture on January 24, 1997 at the age of 112 years, 86 days. He became the oldest living man in Japan on September 28, 1991, following the death of Gihei Oka. On October 7, 1995, he passed the final age of Eiju Tsuru and became the oldest verified Japanese man ever. His Japanese male longevity record was broken by Denzo Ishizaki in 1999 but he remains the oldest man ever from Okinawa.
May 21, 2015; Sue Utagawa was born in Yamaguchi, Japan on January 19, 1884 and passed away in the same prefecture on May 4, 1997 at the age of 113 years, 105 days. At the time of her death, she was the oldest living person in Japan. She remains the oldest person ever from Yamaguchi prefecture.
Photo courtesy of http://www.journaux-collection.com/
April 18, 2016; Zoe Verot was born in France on February 15, 1884 and died on January 4, 1996 at the age of 111 years, 323 days.
As a young woman:
Aged 109:
January 21, 2016; Emma Welz was born in Ontario, Canada on June 16, 1884 and died in the same province on July 21, 1994 at the age of 110 years, 35 days.
Here ends the Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in 1884. Click on a link below to view our Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in another year.