BIOGRAPHY

Emma Verona Johnston was born in in Indianola, Iowa, USA on 6 August 1890. She was the eighth of nine children born to Civil War veteran Joseph Calhoun and Emma Speer Calhoun. Longevity was present in her family, as one of her sisters died aged 105, and a few other siblings reached their 90s. She attended Drake University in the city of Des Moines, Iowa, where she studied Latin before graduating in 1912. She would teach the subject of Latin for 7 years until 1919, before marrying Harry Johnston, a physician. The couple would go on to have four children (all of whom would outlive their parents), and would remain together for over 50 years until Harry’s death in 1970.

In her later life, she traveled across Europe, and enjoyed reading. She voted in every major election since women gained the right to vote in 1920, and casted an absentee ballot for the 2004 United States presidential election just a few weeks before her death. She lived on her own until the age of 98, when she moved to Ohio to live with her daughter and son-in-law. She maintained healthy into her supercentenarian years, and was able to climb stairs until the age of 112.

Emma Verona Johnson died in Worthington, Ohio, USA on 1 December 2004, at the age of 114 years, 117 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age was validated by the Gerontology Research Group on 31 July 2002.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Emma Johnston, 114; Ohioan Was Oldest Living American” – Los Angeles Times, 3 December 2004

GALLERY