Supercentenarian Profile

Bonita Zigrang

Born:

1904-07-15

East St. Louis, Illinois

United States

Died:

2015-03-31

Rancho Palos Verdes, California

United States

✔ Age Certified by LongeviQuest

Bonita Ailene Zigrang (née Smith) was an American supercentenarian.

BIOGRAPHY

Bonita Zigrang was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, on 15 July 1904. She was the middle of three daughters. Her father, Charlie Smith, once worked as a singing waiter at the St. Louis Exposition. When she was six, the family moved to Los Angeles. Not long after, her father died from a fall off a scaffold while working as a house painter. To make ends meet, her mother rented out part of their downtown home to working men.

Zigrang and her sisters began performing at the Venice Pier merry-go-round and the Santa Monica roller coaster, entertaining crowds to earn a little money. In the 1920s, they also found occasional work as movie extras. As she grew older, Zigrang performed in theaters and composed original music while employed at the Remick Music Shop in downtown Los Angeles.

She and her sisters often sang at the MacArthur Park grandstand, where she met her future husband, Charles, then a student at Loyola High School. They married in 1928, and a year later welcomed their son, Richard.

After the Watts riots in 1965, Zigrang and her husband moved to Rancho Palos Verdes. Charles passed away in 1978, after which their son, Richard, took over his dental practice. Zigrang continued working as the office receptionist for another year before retiring.

In her later years, her greatest joy was going on cruises. Her final voyage, at the age of 104, was a trip to Mexico with four of her granddaughters. At 106, Bonita suffered a stroke that left her bedridden and in hospice care.

Bonita Zigrang passed away in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on 31 March 2015, at the age of 110 years, 259 days.