BIOGRAPHY

Denny was born in a log cabin in Suffield Township, Portage County, Ohio, USA, on 10 June 1910. Her parents were Joseph William Bissler (1866–1917) and Mary Kehner (1867–1956). She had six older siblings: Ruth Butler (1891–1982), Susan Louise Shanafelt (1893–1971), Paul Roman (1894–1961), Carl (1896–1983), Victor (1900– 1974) and Edmund. Her father passed away from an unexpected seizure when she was 6. Like her siblings, she started working at a young age, sometimes for no pay. She attended the St. Joseph School in Randolph, where she had to walk to and back to her house, six miles a day. She later graduated from Suffield High School.

While working as a waitress at a neighborhood saloon, she met her future husband, Russell S. Denny (1906– 1995), whom she married in 1938. The couple had no children. The couple ran a saloon and tavern in Suffield together, and they loved to hunt and fish together. Her husband was drafted into the military. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, and stayed overseas for three years.

At the age of 93, she voluntarily gave up driving and lived in her own home in Suffield until the age of 101, when she decided to move to the Gables of KentRidge in Kent in the spring of 2012. She was a lifelong member of St. Joseph Catholic Church.

Denny passed away in Hartville, Ohio, United States on 28 September 2021, at the age of 111.

RECOGNITION

At the time of death, she was the oldest living person in the U.S. state of Ohio. She was succeeded by Alma Kahl.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Mary K Bissler Denny” – FindAGrave

* “Suffield native Mary Denny celebrates her 111th birthday” – The Portager, 10 June 2021

* “Portage County’s oldest resident, Mary Denny, dies at 111” – The Portager, 1 October 2021

* “Mary K. Denny” – Akron Beacon Journal, 1 October 2021

GALLERY