Grace Clawson

Grace Clawson (née Taylor) (15 November 1887 – 28 May 2002), was an English-American supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in the United States and the World's Oldest Person (WOP) for two months in 2002, following the death of fellow American Maud Farris-Luse. She was not recognized as the WOP back then because her age was only posthumously verified by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) and because Kamato Hongo's age claim was accepted until 2012, when the GRG withdrew its acceptance of it.^[1]

She was born in London, England, but her family moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with her only sister. After her parents divorced when she was a teenager, she lived with foster parents until she married Ray Clawson, in 1917. She had two daughters, Viola and Gladys, and became widowed in 1950. Before retiring, she worked as an embroiderer and as an office worker.^[2]

At age 95, in 1982, Mrs. Clawson moved to Florida, the U.S., in order to live with her younger daughter Gladys, doing so for many years before going to live to an Assisted living facility. She remained mentally sharp until her very last day of life,^[3] enjoying the talks with her family and friends. She was survived by her 2 daughters, Viola and Gladys (aged 83 and 79 at the time), 5 grandchildren, 14 great- grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren.

She believed that she was born in 1889 until her family ordered her birth certificate from the United Kingdom and discovered that Grace was actually two years older than she thought she was.^[4] Before finding out this fact, Grace Clawson humorously celebrated her 100th birthday in 1989, when it was actually her 102nd birthday.^[5]

See also

• List of British supercentenarians

References