Young was born in Walnut, Iowa, USA on 13 June 1910 and was one of 12 children. Her parents were Robert and Celesta (nee Engleman) Davis.
In 1929, she married Frank Young. She never had any children but raised her husband’s nephews. Young lived in Des Moines, Iowa for most of her life, except for a brief period in Boston, Massachusetts, where she inspected airplane parts during World War II while her husband was in the Navy. She worked a variety of jobs in Des Moines, including at a hosiery mill, Look Magazine, and two dime stores.
Young was widowed in 1973. Her last surviving sibling, George, died on 13 April 2019 at the age of 96.
In her later-life, Young lived in a nursing home in Altoona, near Des Moines, Iowa, where she died on 17 December 2022, at the age of 112 years, 187 days.
Her age was verified by Stefan Maglov, and validated by LongeviQuest on 5 February 2023.