Jane Carpenter

BIOGRAPHY

Carpenter was born in Ararat Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, on 28 April 1911. Her parents were William J. Archer (1868–1928) and Anna E. Thomas (1880–1956). She had two siblings: Theodore John Archer (1909–1983) and Mildred J. Fenwick (1915–2000). Her first job involved caring for children and an elderly woman. At the age of 21, she found a job at a local factory.

In November 1933, at the age of 22, she married Earl Clifford Alger (1910–1976), and they resided in Johnson City, New York. In 1944, they moved to Waymart, Pennsylvania, where she worked as a sewing machine operator and became a member of the First Baptist Church. It was reported that she had a fondness for children and travel. During her time at the Baptist church, she served on the mission committee and taught Sunday School. Additionally, she dedicated 26 years of service to the Katz Factory.

In 1976, she remarried to Emerson Warren Carpenter (1914–1981) and settled in Binghamton. Emerson Carpenter was the husband of her late best friend, who had expressed the wish that if she passed away first, Jane would care for her five children. At the age of 95, in 2006, she returned to Pennsylvania. When asked about the secret to her longevity, she would simply smile and attribute it to “working and spending time with kids.”

Carpenter passed away at Wayne Woodlands Manor in Waymart, Wayne County, Pennsylvania, USA, on 28 September 2022, at the age of 111 years, 153 days.