Delina Filkins

Delina Filkins (née Ecker; born May 4, 1815 in Stark , Herkimer County , New York ; † December 4, 1928 in Richfield , New York) held the record for the highest reached human age from 1926 to 1980 . She was the first person known to live to be 112 and 113 years old.

Life

Filkins was born in Stark, Herkimer County, in 1815. Except for the last two months of her life, she lived there all of her life. She attended school until the age of eleven. After that she worked at home. Filkins married in 1834 and had six children. At the time of her death, only two of her children (Frank and Alonzo) were still alive. Her father was 97 years old and her mother was 78 years old. On September 20, 1926, at the age of 111 years and 139 days, she exceeded the previous record of her predecessor Louisa Thiers . She was the first person to reach the ages of 112 and 113. Filkins was also the first proven Super Centenarian , who survived another Super Centenarian during his lifetime: She survived Miriam Bannister (1817-1928). Filkins died on December 4, 1928, at the age of 113 years and 214 days. At 54 years and 55 days (1926–1980) she held the title of oldest person for the longest time according to current research. Her age was only exceeded on November 15, 1980 by Fannie Thomas . Her case was investigated in the 1970s and 2005 and has been verified most extensively after that of Jeanne Calment .

Web links

• Ron Smith, Carol Perry: Obit of Delina Filkins.
• Louis Epstein: The Oldest Human Beings. recordholders.org