✔ Age Certified by LongeviQuest
Julia Rose (née Júlia Espírito Santo Machado) was a Portuguese-born American supercentenarian who is the longevity recordholder by birth of the Azores archipelago. Her age has been validated by the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO) and recognised by LongeviQuest.
Rose was born as Júlia Espírito Santo Machado in Candelária, Pico Island, Azores, Portugal, on 27 January 1902 as the third of eight children born to Manuel Rodrigues Machado and Felicidade do Espírito Santo, who lived to 88 and 90 years old respectively. She had five brothers and two sisters. She emigrated to the United States in September 1922 with her uncle, António Machado, to marry her husband, settling in California.
On 2 December 1922, Rose married fellow Azores native José da Rosa, a carpenter by trade. He built a house for the couple, where Rose lived until she was 100. They had two children, Lester and Margaret; they had anglicized their surname to Rose, and her husband became Joseph Rose. Despite this, she remained proud of her Portuguese heritage and raised her family to embrace the culture.
At the age of 100, Rose and her granddaughter, now her full-time caregiver, moved to Santa Clara, California. They moved again in late 2011, when Rose was 109, to Port Angeles, Washington. Her four main passions were family, faith (being a devout Catholic), crocheting, and television soap operas.
Rose died on 21 September 2012 at the age of 110 years, 238 days. She was survived by her daughter, as well as nine grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, and 16 great-great-grandchildren.
In July 2012, Rose became the oldest Azores native ever after surpassing the age of Alice Sanders (1897 – 2007).
Rose’s age was verified by Dr. Andrew Holmes and validated by the ESO on 25 April 2021.
Rose in an undated photo (Source: Portuguese Tribune / Facebook)
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