BIOGRAPHY

Vigor was born on a lucerne farm in Laidley, Queensland, Australia, on 9 January 1906, as the eldest of nine children. She was born six weeks prematurely. The doctor wrapped her in cotton wool, placed her in a wooden box and told her parents to “hope for the best”.

As a young woman, she served as a switchboard operator at the Postmaster-General’s Department’s office in South Brisbane. In 1929, at the age of 23, she met James Edward Vigor at the Ekka. The two started dating, and got married two years later, on 28 November 1931. Her husband was 15 years her senior and a veteran of World War I. He served in the Australian Imperial Force in France with the 49th and 52nd Battalions. The couple had three children: Hedley James (born 1933), Evelyn Jean Tilse (born 1934) and Janet Winifred Sanders (born 1939). Between 1936 and 1949, the family engaged in farming in Memerambi.

Her husband passed away on 16 June 1981. In her 90s, she recovered from two separate fractured hips and overcame breast cancer at the age of 102.

By the time she turned 109, her eight siblings and three children had passed away. At the time, she had 12 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

Vigor passed away in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, on 26 April 2016, at the age of 110 years, 108 days.

RECOGNITION

At the time of death, she was the fourth-oldest living person and the third-oldest living woman in Australia, behind Mary Whitehurst, Alfred Date, and Marjorie Cooke. Furthermore, she was the second-oldest living person born in Australia (behind Cooke), and the oldest living person in the state of Queensland.

Her age was validated by LongeviQuest on 25 September 2023.

ATTRIBUTION

* “VIGOR James Edward” – Diggers Database

* “Oldest living Queenslander turns 109” – Carinity, 8 January 2015

GALLERY