Hester Ford, oldest person in U.S., dies age 115
Hester Ford, the oldest known person in the U.S., has died.
She was 115.
She passed away peacefully at her Charlotte, N.C., home on Saturday surrounded by family, WBTV-TV reported.
Ford left behind 68 grandchildren, 125 great-grandchildren and at least 120 great-great grandchildren, The Charlotte Observer said. She had 12 children, according to WBTV.
“She was a pillar and stalwart to our family and provided much needed love, support and understanding to us all,” the family said in a statement. “She was the seed that sprouted leaves and branches which is now our family. God saw fit to make her the matriarch of your family and blessed us to be her caretakers and recipients of her legacy.”
At Ford’s most recent birthday, last August, friends, family and her community drove by in a parade to fete her, WBTV-TV reported at the time.
The longtime Macedonia Baptist Church member died in the house she’d lived in for more than 59 years, WBTV reported. She had lived more than twice as long as her husband, steelworker John Ford, who died in 1963 at age 57, after they’d been married 45 years, according to WBTV.
Ford grew up plowing and picking cotton in Lancaster County, S.C., married John Ford at age 14 and had the first of her 12 children at age 15, The Charlotte Observer said. The couple moved to Charlotte in the late 1950s, and that’s where Ford lived for the rest of her life – most of that time sans assistance.
The oldest-living-American title landed on Ford in 2019 with the death of Alelia Murphy of Harlem in New York city, at age 114. The next oldest living person is Thelma Sutcliffe, from Nebraska, who is 114 years and 198 days old, according to WBTV.
Ford and her longevity were so well known around the region that the Mecklenburg County Commissioners designated Sept. 1, 2020, as Mother Hester McCardell Ford day in honor of her love for the community and of her extensive family, WSOC-TV reported.
