BIOGRAPHY

Moreno Díaz was born at the Hacienda de Balancán, near Sitilpech in the municipality of Izamal, Yucatán, Mexico, on 3 December 1913. Her parents were Francisco Moreno Bolio and Elodia Díaz Quiñones. She had two siblings: José Arcadio and Rosa María.

When she was 14 years old, her father passed away, and she had already begun assisting her mother by selling tortillas at the market, pumpkins grown in the courtyard of their home, and flowers to help support the family financially.

At the age 24, she married Andrés Sierra Padrón. The couple had five children: Juana, Susi, Andrés, Mario and Jorge. She was described as a woman who always instilled respect and good customs in her children at a time when good manners, obedience and respect for elders and parents were pillars of the family and society. She always said her phrase “rude and ill-mannered people nowhere fit in” to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren when they were little, always correcting them when observing bad behavior or hearing a rude word

At the age of 100, she recovered from pneumonia. She had surgery at age 104 for a fall and fractured her femur. Two or three days after her surgery, the ventilator fell on her same leg, the doctor who operated on her didn’t believe it and went to see her, they did an x-ray at home and it was only a fissure and they put a splint on her. The doctors mentioned in her operation that she had bones of a 60-year-old person. What she complained about most in her recovery was the bed that she didn’t like. Due to the pandemic for two years, when she turned 107 and 108, caravans were made for her birthday. She got COVID-19 twice, first at age 108 without any symptoms, and at age 109, which is when she got it badly.

At the age of 110, she had 20 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. Even in her centenarian years, she remained a faithful devotee of the Virgin of Izamal, referring to her as “the Queen of Yucatán.”

Francisca Moreno Díaz passed away in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico, on 5 January 2024, at the age of 110 years, 33 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age was verified by Fabrizio Villatoro and Edder Aguilar, and listed as a pending validation by the LAS as of 4 December 2021. The validation process was completed on 8 January 2023.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Ella es mi abuelita Panchita, oriunda de Izamal.” – Facebook (delmundosoy), 21 January 2021

* “Con caravana celebra sus 108 años de edad” – Yucatan Ahora, 4 December 2021

GALLERY