List of Canadian supercentenarians explained

This article lists Canadian supercentenarians (people from Canada who have attained the age of at least 110 years). The oldest verified Canadian person ever was Marie-Louise Meilleur, who died in 1998 aged 117 years, 230 days. As of, the oldest living person in Canada is Hazel Skuce, born on 7 February 1912 in Manitoba, aged .

100 oldest known Canadians

RankNameGender data-sort-type=dateBirth datedata-sort-type=dateDeath dateAgeBirthplacenowrapPlace of death
or residence
1data-sort-value="Meilleur" Marie-Louise Meilleur29 August 188016 April 1998QuebecOntario
2data-sort-value="Rhodes" Mary Ann Rhodes12 August 18823 March 1998OntarioOntario
3data-sort-value="Bertrand" Julie Winnefred Bertrand16 September 189118 January 2007QuebecQuebec
4data-sort-value="Ray" Mary Josephine Ray17 May 18957 March 2010Prince Edward IslandUnited States
5data-sort-value="Klein" Cecile Klein15 June 190713 January 2022[1] QuebecQuebec
6data-sort-value="Ridgway" Phyllis Ridgway10 March 19074 June 2021[2] United KingdomOntario
7data-sort-value="Gibb" Ellen Gibb26 April 19055 June 2019[3] ManitobaOntario
8data-sort-value="Barwis" Merle Barwis23 December 190022 November 2014United StatesBritish Columbia
9data-sort-value="Samson" Anne Samson,
aka Sister Cecile-Marie[4] 		27 February 189129 November 2004Nova ScotiaNew Brunswick
10data-sort-value="Mineshiba" Shige Mineshiba18 May 19096 January 2023[5] JapanBritish Columbia
11data-sort-value="Mah" Mabel Mah4 July 191030 January 2024[6] British ColumbiaBritish Columbia
12data-sort-value="Ross" Lillian Ross24 August 187920 March 1993OntarioOntario
13data-sort-value="Fennell" Reita Fennell20 November 190717 April 2021[7] SaskatchewanSaskatchewan
14data-sort-value="McCague" Zelda McCague28 March 18886 August 2001OntarioOntario
15data-sort-value="Fitzgerald, Margaret" Margaret Fitzgerald16 September 189620 October 2009New BrunswickNew Brunswick
16data-sort-value="Hansen" Cora Hansen25 March 189918 April 2012United StatesAlberta
17data-sort-value="Sjöquist" Alice Sjöquist25 October 18787 November 1991United KingdomBritish Columbia
18data-sort-value="Martland" Fanny Martland19 November 18881 December 2001United KingdomBritish Columbia
19data-sort-value="Patenaude-Bruyère" Sarah Patenaude-Bruyère20 February 190717 February 2020[8] OntarioQuebec
20data-sort-value="Campbell" Hazel Campbell7 December 19037 November 2016QuebecUnited States
21data-sort-value="Fung" Sum Ying Fung27 January 18996 December 2011[9] ChinaBritish Columbia
22data-sort-value="Thibodeau" Flora Thibodeau20 March 190122 January 2014New BrunswickNew Brunswick
23data-sort-value="Skuce" Hazel Skuce7 February 1912LivingManitobaManitoba
24data-sort-value="Romans" Margaret Romans16 March 1912LivingLatviaQuebec
24data-sort-value="Lutzko" Pearl Lutzko15 February 18992 November 2011[10] UkraineSaskatchewan
26data-sort-value="Pellerin-Cormier" Adéa Pellerin-Cormier11 September 190124 May 2014New BrunswickNew Brunswick
27data-sort-value="Irwin" Henrietta Irwin27 May 190615 January 2019United KingdomOntario
28data-sort-value="Gorecka" Gertruda Gorecka12 November 191125 June 2024[11] German EmpireOntario
29data-sort-value="Doan" Helen Doan18 September 191118 April 2024[12] OntarioOntario
30data-sort-value="St. Pierre-Loyer" Alexina St. Pierre-Loyer21 November 190722 May 2020QuebecQuebec
31data-sort-value="Delorme-Martel" Yvonne Delorme-Martel22 October 19097 April 2022[13] QuebecQuebec
32data-sort-value="Roberts" Mary Roberts5 October 190611 March 2019United KingdomBritish Columbia
33data-sort-value="Mackenzie" Clara Mackenzie7 October 18855 March 1998NewfoundlandUnited States
34data-sort-value="Greenberg" Fannie Greenberg24 May 18955 October 2007OntarioUnited States
35data-sort-value="Nadon" Marie-Laure Nadon12 April 188918 August 2001QuebecQuebec
36data-sort-value="MacIsaac" Mary MacIsaac27 December 189310 March 2006New BrunswickSaskatchewan
37data-sort-value="Oslender" Tilly Oslender24 March 19071 June 2019[14] UkraineOntario
38data-sort-value="Houde" Julia Houde18 September 189418 November 2006QuebecQuebec
39data-sort-value="Smith" Mamie Smith1 March 188925 April 2001OntarioOntario
40data-sort-value="Slack" Orma Slack19 February 190313 April 2015[15] OntarioOntario
41data-sort-value="Swan" Mary Ellen Swan24 June 189210 August 2004United KingdomOntario
42data-sort-value="Buttiri" Margherita Buttiri8 May 190823 June 2020[16] CroatiaAlberta
43data-sort-value="Mallozzi" Maria Mallozzi25 September 188726 October 1999ItalyOntario
44data-sort-value="Galode" Emma Galode22 August 18829 September 1994NewfoundlandOntario
45data-sort-value="Leduc" Simonne Leduc31 October 191126 October 2023QuebecQuebec
46data-sort-value="Buhler"Elizabeth Buhler8 February 189923 January 2011UkraineManitoba
data-sort-value="Portelance" Marie-Blanche Portelance21 March 19095 March 2021QuebecQuebec
48data-sort-value="Benoît-Leclerc" Colombe Benoît-Leclerc5 February 190314 January 2015[17] QuebecQuebec
49data-sort-value="Munce" Agnes Munce17 January 187717 December 1988OntarioOntario
50data-sort-value="Schultz" Hazel Schultz12 January 1913LivingSaskatchewanUnited States
51data-sort-value="Nash" Arthur Nash7 January 18854 November 1996United KingdomManitoba
52data-sort-value="McCoubrey" James McCoubrey13 September 19015 July 2013NewfoundlandUnited States
53data-sort-value="Schmidt" Molly Schmidt22 July 19058 May 2017AlbertaUnited States
54data-sort-value="Wabano" Marguerite Wabano28 January 190413 November 2015OntarioOntario
55data-sort-value="Dryden" Isabel Dryden16 October 188820 July 2000OntarioBritish Columbia
56data-sort-value="Lum" Foon Hay Lum[18] 30 July 190824 April 2020[19] ChinaOntario
57data-sort-value="Webber" Florence Webber22 July 190813 April 2020[20] Nova ScotiaNova Scotia
58data-sort-value="Sinclair" Reuben Sinclair5 December 191127 August 2023[21] SaskatchewanBritish Columbia
59data-sort-value="Skeen" Dora Skeen29 December 191019 September 2022[22] JamaicaOntario
60data-sort-value="O'Hara" Merle O'Hara20 February 19124 November 2023JamaicaBritish Columbia
61data-sort-value="Westcott" Jemima Westcott10 January 191124 August 2022[23] ManitobaManitoba
62data-sort-value="Meunier" Marie-Louise Meunier15 March 188724 October 1998QuebecQuebec
63data-sort-value="Carrier-Delisle" Eva Carrier-Delisle29 April 190822 November 2019[24] QuebecQuebec
64data-sort-value="Smith-Johannsen"Herman Smith-Johannsen15 June 18755 January 1987NorwayQuebec
data-sort-value="Marcil-Pigeon" Emilienne Marcil-Pigeon29 March 191119 October 2022QuebecQuebec
66data-sort-value="Saulnier" Evangeline Saulnier11 September 189019 March 2002New BrunswickNew Brunswick
67data-sort-value="Lyman" Ethel Lyman8 June 18809 December 1991OntarioQuebec
68data-sort-value="Bibeault" Marie Bibeault31 January 188229 July 1993QuebecQuebec
69data-sort-value="Luscombe" Janet Luscombe 12 August 191025 January 2022[25] NewfoundlandOntario
70data-sort-value="Sutherland" Jennie Sutherland 4 October 190615 March 2018[26] United StatesAlberta
71data-sort-value="Lavender" Rose Lavender29 August 18861 February 1998United KingdomOntario
72data-sort-value="Gibson" Louise Gibson7 August 18832 January 1995Nova ScotiaUnited States
73data-sort-value="Ives, George" George Frederick Ives17 November 188112 April 1993United KingdomBritish Columbia
74data-sort-value="Cornell" Lilian Cornell21 August 190411 January 2016United KingdomSaskatchewan
75data-sort-value="Hayes" Isabella Hayes17 June 19005 November 2011United KingdomOntario
76data-sort-value="Harper" Sarah Harper24 August 190616 December 2017[27] ManitobaManitoba
77data-sort-value="Chandler" Eloise Chandler21 January 191012 May 2021[28] British GuianaOntario
78data-sort-value="Robertson" Marguerite Robertson13 May 190731 August 2018[29] Nova ScotiaBritish Columbia
79data-sort-value="Roffey" Bessie Roffey2 March 189717 June 2008United KingdomAlberta
80data-sort-value="Muise" Virginia Muise28 July 18932 November 2004Nova ScotiaUnited States
81data-sort-value="McCool" Emily McCool13 December 190911 March 2021[30] OntarioOntario
82data-sort-value="Barszczewicz" Mariette Barszczewicz8 January 19094 April 2020[31] BelgiumOntario
83data-sort-value="Chalifour" Gisele Chalifour20 June 190713 September 2018[32] QuebecQuebec
84data-sort-value="Nielsen" Anna Nielsen2 April 190419 June 2015DenmarkBritish Columbia
85data-sort-value="Yale" Linda Yale28 December 191211 March 2024[33] QuebecBritish Columbia
86data-sort-value="Turcotte-Brouillette" Louise-Anna Turcotte-Brouillette5 September 190512 November 2016QuebecQuebec
87data-sort-value="Bateman" Rachel Bateman16 January 186518 March 1976OntarioManitoba
88data-sort-value="Ives, Margaret" Margaret Ives28 January 188927 March 2000United KingdomManitoba
89data-sort-value="Gaetz" Selma Gaetz12 May 19035 July 2014AlbertaUnited States
90data-sort-value="Fitzgerald, Jennie" Jennie Fitzgerald5 December 189522 January 2007New BrunswickNew Brunswick
91data-sort-value="Thompson" Nellie Thompson21 October 187827 November 1989OntarioOntario
92data-sort-value="Hudon" Clarina Hudon4 March 19057 April 2016QuebecUnited States
93data-sort-value="Schaeffner" Grace-Lillian Schaeffner28 November 187826 December 1989OntarioUnited States
data-sort-value="Sanford" Luella Sanford18 May 188915 June 2000Nova ScotiaNova Scotia
data-sort-value="Best" Lorna Best4 July 19031 August 2014ManitobaBritish Columbia
96data-sort-value="Pratt" Norma Pratt15 April 189111 May 2002OntarioUnited States
97data-sort-value="McNeill" Eleanor McNeill7 March 188711 March 1998United KingdomNova Scotia
98data-sort-value="Lacasse" Maria Lacasse6 December 1913LivingQuebec Quebec
99data-sort-value="Mascarin" Olinda Mascarin4 December 190930 November 2020[34] ItalyOntario
100data-sort-value="Lavoie" Emilie Lavoie10 April 18982 April 2009New BrunswickNew Brunswick

Biographies

Sum Ying Fung

Sum Ying Fung (née Eng,, 27 January 1899 – 6 December 2011), was a Chinese Canadian supercentenarian who was the oldest person in Canada in 2011.

Sum Ying Eng was born in Wing On Village, Yanping, China in 1899.[35] In 1926, she married Chong Lim Fung, who had been working in Canada since 1911. Chong Lim would travel to visit Sum Ying regularly in the ensuing years and they had three children.[36] However, the Chinese Exclusion Act prevented her from joining her husband in Canada. In 1954, she emigrated to Canada under the sponsorship of her husband.[37] The couple settled in Chinatown, Vancouver that year. The Fung family moved to East Vancouver upon Chong Lim's death in 1967.[36]

In 1989, she developed a brain tumour, underwent surgery, and survived. She visited China later that year and was in Beijing during the military crackdown of Tiananmen Square protests. She and her family fled Beijing among a group of German tourists.[38]

In January 2011, Sum Ying Fung became the oldest person in Canada, after the death of Elizabeth Buhler.[39] The Queen congratulated Fung in a letter on her 112th birthday on 27 January 2011 and the Mayor of Vancouver declared that day "Fung Eng Sum Ying Day".[36] [37]

Fung died of natural causes at the claimed age of 112, at Burnaby General Hospital in British Columbia on 6 December 2011. At the time of her death she was survived by two of her three children, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grand children, and 2 great-great-grand children.[38] [36]

Reuben Sinclair

Reuben "Rube"[40] Sinclair (5 December 1911 – 27 August 2023)[21] was the oldest known living man in Canada, and oldest known living veteran of World War II.[41] [42]

Sinclair was born on the outskirts of Lipton, Saskatchewan to Yitzok (né Sandler) and Fraida (née Dubrovinsky) Sinclair – Ukrainian Jews that immigrated to Canada in 1905. His two older brothers, Samuel and Sol, were born in Ukraine, while his older sister Clara and younger brother Joe were born in Canada.[40] His family's land was provided by the Jewish Colonisation Association. He worked on their farm.[40]

Sinclair joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942[43] and was stationed at North Battleford. According to his daughter, he "couldn't stand by and do nothing while people were dying in Europe".[44] He taught pilots how to take off and land during blackouts, before radar was commonplace. Once it became standard, he worked in equipping aircraft with transmitters and receivers.[43] His younger brother Joe served in the army, and after the war they moved to Richmond, British Columbia and started Sinclair Bros. Garage and Auto Wrecking.[40] [42] [44]

He married a woman named Ida and they had three children: Nadine Lipetz, Karen and Len. In 1964, they moved to California; Sinclair suffered from migraines due to the war and his wife suggested they move to California to escape the cold weather and live closer to her siblings.[40] His brother-in-law offered him a job in a furniture store in Anaheim. Ida suffered a stroke in 1994 and the Sinclairs moved back to British Columbia the same year. She died in 1996.[40] Reuben resided in Richmond.

Sinclair was vaccinated against COVID-19 in March 2021, one of the oldest people to do so.[45] Following the death of 109-year-old Tom Lumby on 19 June 2021,[46] Sinclair was believed to have become Canada's oldest veteran.[41] He became the oldest Canadian-born man upon the death of 110-year-old Arnold Hawkins on 18 September 2021.[41] [47] As of November 2021, he had six grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild.[44] His family spanned five generations at the time of his death.[42]

Following the death of 111-year-old American Ezra Hill on 4 October 2022,[48] Sinclair was believed to have been the oldest World War II veteran in the world.[41]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cecile Edith Klein Nee Efros 2022 . Necro Canada . 15 January 2022 . 16 October 2022.
  2. Web site: Phyllis Ridgway Obituary . Legacy . 16 October 2022.
  3. News: Oldest Canadian, North Bay resident, dies at 114. North Bay Nugget. Jennifer. Hamilton-McCharles. 6 June 2019. 6 June 2019.
  4. Happy 112th birthday . River Bourgeois Community Services Society . The River Round up . 4 . 3 . 3 . March 2003 . 20 October 2022.
  5. Web site: At 113, one of Canada's oldest people has died in her Vancouver home . Liam . Britten . . 12 January 2023 . 12 January 2023.
  6. Web site: Mabel Mah, Canada's Oldest Living Person, Dies at 113 . Rollan . Albano . LongeviQuest . 2 February 2024 . 2 February 2024.
  7. Web site: Reita "Deat" Fennell . Melfort Funeral Home . 16 October 2022.
  8. Web site: Adieu Mme Patenaude-Bruyère . Le Droit (Press Reader) . 19 February 2020.
  9. News: Vancouver's Sum Ying Fung, Canada's oldest resident, dies at the age of 112 . Andrea . Woo . . 13 December 2011 . 5 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120108142453/https://vancouversun.com/life/Vancouver+Ying+Fung+Canada+oldest+resident+dies/5856080/story.html . 8 January 2012 . dead.
  10. News: Saskatchewan's oldest person dies at 112 . . 4 November 2011 . 20 July 2019.
  11. Web site: Obituary of Gertruda Gorecka . Windsor Chapel Funeral Home . 25 June 2024 . 28 June 2024.
  12. Web site: Obituary - Mrs. Helen McKinnon Doan . Dignity Memorial . 24 April 2024.
  13. Web site: Avis de décès de Yvonne Delorme Martel . Echovita . 16 October 2022.
  14. Web site: Even at 112 years old, Tilly Oslender was still living life to the fullest . Alex . Rose . . 6 June 2019 . 10 June 2019.
  15. Web site: Obituary for Orma Slack . Rushnell Family Services . 5 December 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150416203246/http://www.rushnellfamilyservices.com/book-of-memories/2111127/Slack-Orma/obituary.php . 16 April 2015 . dead.
  16. Web site: Margherita Buttiri . Edmonton Journal . 27 June 2020.
  17. Web site: Colombe Benoît Leclerc – Nécrologie – Avis de décès, Québec – Rechercher . Lépine Cloutier . 5 December 2018.
  18. News: This woman lived on her own until 107; expert says care in community key to aging population . Nicole . Brockbank . . 20 June 2019 . 25 April 2020.
  19. Web site: COVID claims 111-year-old Foon Hay Lum, pioneering activist for Chinese Canadians . Marco . Chown Oved . . 26 April 2020 . 20 October 2022.
  20. Web site: Florence Amy Webber Obituary . . 15 April 2020 . 20 October 2022.
  21. Web site: Obituary: Reuben Sinclair, 112, Canada's oldest veteran, remembered for his service and his zest for life . Sam . Margolis . . 1 September 2023 . 12 September 2023.
  22. Web site: Obituary of Mrs. Dora Skeen . Ogden Funeral Homes . 30 September 2022.
  23. Web site: Jemima Westcott Obituary . Brockie Donovan Funeral and Cremation Services . 24 August 2022 . 1 September 2022.
  24. Web site: Avis de décès: Carrier Delisle, Eva . Coopérative funéraire des Deux Rives . 20 October 2022.
  25. Web site: Janet Luscombe Obituary . Echovita . 16 October 2022.
  26. Web site: Jennie (Thompson) Sutherland . Westlock Funeral Home . 15 March 2018 . 6 November 2022.
  27. Web site: Manitoba Cree elder Sarah Harper dies at 111 . . 17 December 2017 . 5 December 2018.
  28. Web site: Obituary - Eloise Chandler . Dignity Memorial . 16 October 2022.
  29. Web site: Marguerite Robertson Obituary . Burnaby Now, New Westminster Record . 12 September 2018 . 20 October 2022.
  30. Web site: Finnish Resthome's oldest resident dies at 111 . Darren . Taylor . SooToday.com . 12 March 2021.
  31. Web site: Mariette Barszczewicz Obituary . Legacy . 10 April 2020 . 10 May 2020.
  32. Web site: Adieu, Gisèle Chalifour, 111 ans. . 13 September 2018 . Destination-Soleil . 5 December 2018.
  33. Web site: Linda Florence Hastings YALE Obituary . Richmond News . 11 March 2024 . 14 March 2024.
  34. Web site: Olinda Mascarin Obituary . . 2 December 2020.
  35. Web site: Oldest Canadian Sum Ying Fung dies peacefully in Burnaby . Andy . Ivens . . 14 December 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120108012406/http://www.theprovince.com/news/Oldest+Canadian+Ying+Fung+dies+peacefully+Burnaby/5854257/story.html . 8 January 2012.
  36. Web site: Woman who was oldest living Canadian dies at 112 . . 13 December 2011 . 15 December 2011.
  37. Web site: 加拿大最长寿人瑞 112岁华裔吴如英卑诗省辞世 . zh . Canada's oldest living person, 112-year-old Chinese-Canadian Sum Ying Fung, dies in British Columbia . 加拿大家园 . 14 December 2011 . 17 November 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151118091144/http://www.iask.ca/news/canada/2011/1214/106947.html . 18 November 2015 . dead.
  38. News: Vancouver's Sum Ying Fung, Canada's oldest resident, dies at the age of 112 . Andrea . Woo . . 13 December 2011 . 5 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120108142453/https://vancouversun.com/life/Vancouver+Ying+Fung+Canada+oldest+resident+dies/5856080/story.html . 8 January 2012 . dead.
  39. News: Vancouver woman who is likely the oldest Canadian turns 112 . Larry . Pynn . Tracy . Sherlock . . 28 January 2011 . 17 November 2015.
  40. Web site: A long life working, helping others . Pat . Johnson . Jewish Independent . 15 January 2021 . 14 June 2023.
  41. Web site: Reuben Sinclair . LongeviQuest . 22 January 2023 . 20 March 2023.
  42. News: Canada's oldest Second World War veteran laid to rest in British Columbia . Simon . Little . . 29 August 2023 . 29 August 2023.
  43. Web site: "I felt it was my duty" . Sharon . Adams . Legion Magazine . 11 January 2022 . 14 June 2023.
  44. Web site: Oldest living veteran in Canada honoured at 110 years old . Jon . Hernandez . . 11 November 2021 . 15 June 2023.
  45. Web site: Veterans and COVID-19 vaccine . Ellin . Bessner . Ellin Bessner . 17 March 2021 . 15 June 2023.
  46. Web site: Egan: Ottawa's oldest man dies . Kelly . Egan . Ottawa Citizen . 6 July 2021 . 15 June 2023.
  47. Web site: 'Canada's Grandpa' Dies At 110 . Brad . Perry . Country 94 . 19 September 2021 . 15 June 2023.
  48. Web site: Celebrating the life of Ezra Edward Hill . Redd Funeral Services . 4 October 2022 . 15 June 2023.

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