BIOGRAPHY

Maria Carrillo was born in Ahome, Sinaloa, Mexico, on 2 September 1893. She had three children: Carmen Rodriguez, Fred Carrillo, and Dora Flores. Carrillo was a homemaker who married Vidal Carrillo, who passed away 48 years before her. They raised their family in San Jose. Later in life, she used a walker to tend to her garden, where she grew such an abundance of tomatoes, chiles, and cucumbers that she had to give them away to neighbors.

Remarkably active, even in her later years, she was cutting down pine trees in her 80s, lived independently until she was 96, and traveled to Disneyland by train at the age of 107. In the spring of 2003, her daughter Dora represented her at Sacramento County Adult and Senior Services’ first dinner honoring the region’s growing number of centenarians. At 109, she was moved to the North Highlands home, where she lived with her daughter, Dora. By then, she suffered from dementia and could not always recognize her loved ones. Bedridden during the final months of her life, she still found joy in watching Mexican soap operas every afternoon with her daughters.

Despite age-related health challenges, including surviving 10 strokes and four bouts of pneumonia, she continued to live a full life. On her 110th birthday, her family gathered for a large barbecue to celebrate. Her daughter attributed her longevity to a healthy lifestyle—she didn’t smoke or drink and ate well—but above all, she believed in God.

Maria Carrillo passed away from pneumonia and heart failure in her daughter’s North Highlands home in Sacramento, on 1 December 2003. She was survived by her three children, 14 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, and 15 great-great-grandchildren.

RECOGNITION

Her age was verified by Gabriel Ainsworth, Fabrizio Villatoro, and James Roberts, and validated by LongeviQuest on 17 September 2024.

ATTRIBUTION

* “100: Most people can live longer, expert says” – The Sacramento Bee, 28 May 2003

* “Obituary: Maria Zavala Carrillo, 110, loved travel, cooking, family” – The Sacramento Bee, 7 December 2003

GALLERY