Avice Clarke (formely Ramos) was a British-born American supercentenarian whose age has been validated by the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO).
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Supercentenarian Profile
Avice Clarke
✔ Age Certified by LongeviQuest
BIOGRAPHY
Avice Clarke was born in Nelson, Lancashire, England, on 17 May 1900, as the eldest of five siblings. She completed her education up to grade 6 and began working in the cotton mills at the age of 12. As a child, she experienced World War I and witnessed German zeppelins flying overhead and dropping bombs. The family’s beloved dray horse, Daisy, was later conscripted for military service.
In 1920, her family moved from England to Gilroy, California, where they worked in the local cannery. It was at the cannery that Avice met and later married George Edison Ramos in 1920. They were married for 28 years before divorcing in 1948, after which Avice returned to her maiden name. They had two sons, Norman Ramos, and George Ramos Jr., who died in 1924 of diphtheria.
During World War II, she worked as an expediter at the Oakland Naval Supply Depot. After the war, she returned to England and worked at the same mill where she had started at the age of 12. She moved from England to Goldendale in 1982 to be closer to her sister, Edith Washburn. In 1991, she relocated to Camins, California, to be with her son, who had recently become a widower. She was a member of the Bay District Lancashire Society, a social club for those from Lancashire, and she was also an avid knitter and gardener.
One of her siblings lived to age 99, another to 89, and her mother, Della Mae Cummings, nearly reached 102.
Avice Clarke passed away from pneumonia at the Gold Country Retirement Center in Placerville, California, USA, on 17 January 2012, at the age of 111 years, 245 days. She was survived by her son Norman, three grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren.
RECOGNITION
Her age was validated by the ESO on 15 September 2024.
ATTRIBUTION
* “Avice Clarke, 111” – Supercentenarian Research, 27 November 2011
* “Calif.’s 2nd oldest person dies in P’ville at age 111” – Mountain Democrat, 29 January 2012
* “Avice Clarke Obituary” – Goldendale Sentinel, 1 February 2012
GALLERY
At the age of 111, with her son Norman. (Source: The Sacramento Bee)
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