Supercentenarian Maggie Renfro 1895-2010
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was an American supercentenarian who was, at 114, the third-oldest
living person in the United States and the oldest person in Louisiana
[1] until her death on January 22, 2010. Renfro was also the fourth-
oldest person in the world and the oldest African American person from
the death of Gertrude Baines until her own.[2][3] Renfro claimed she
was born one year earlier, in 1894, which would have made her the
oldest person in the world at the time of her death.[3] The United
States Census of 1900, however, places her as a four-year-old, making
Renfro born in 1895.[1]
She was born in Athens in southern Claiborne Parish, Louisiana,[2] the
fourth of eleven children of Wylie and Dellie Thornton. At the age of
nineteen, she became a cook for a road crew. Soon afterward, she moved
to Madisonville, the seat of Madison County east of Bryan, Texas, and
later to Houston, where she met her husband Rudy. The two had no
children, and, following his death in 1971, Renfro moved to Minden,
the seat of Webster Parish, near her native Athens, where she lived
until her death. [3] She attributed her longevity to being "a good
servant for God." "Love everybody; treat everybody right," she once
said. She also never drank nor smoked. Renfro enjoyed good health even
in advancing age according to her niece and caretaker, Mattie Ellis.
"I feel good," Maggie said in December 2007. "Nothing hurts me right
now, and I'm not sick."[2]
Maggie had two sisters who lived to be centenarians, Carrie Lee
Thornton Miller (April 9, 1902–January 5, 2010), age 107, and Rosie
Lee Thornton Warren (January 6, 1906–December 18, 2009), age 103.
Rosie and Carrie had died only 18 days apart. On November 8, 2009,
Maggie and her sisters were recognized in a ceremony hosted by
Cultural Crossroads at the Minden Civic Center. They had the oldest
combined age of three living siblings at 324 years.[4] Like Maggie,
Rosie lived in the care of relatives in Minden, while Carrie lived in
an extensive care hospital in Shreveport.[2]
Only 17 days after the death of her sister Carrie, Maggie Renfro died
at the age of 114 years on January 22, 2010.