BIOGRAPHY

Mattsfield was born in Ellsworth Township, Meeker County, Minnesota, USA, on 5 November 1911. Her parents were John C Potter (1877–1956) and Reca A Vogelpohl (1884–1970). She had four brothers: Victor, Kenneth, Calvin and Aaron, and one sister Gilda. She was baptized on 3 December 1911, in St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ellsworth Township. She completed her business training in Hutchinson, Minnesota, and graduated in 1928.

On 31 August 1932, she married Henry William Mattsfield (1907–2006). The couple settled on the Mattsfield family farm, where they raised livestock and cultivated various crops until their retirement in 1978. She worked in the local US Department of Agriculture office for twelve years. Following their retirement from farming, the couple sold the farm and relocated to a second home on the same property. They spent several of their winters during retirement in Apache Junction, Arizona.

Mattsfield was a life-long member of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, serving with the church women’s groups and other church committees. In 1997, she moved to Emmaus Place Senior Housing in Litchfield, along with her husband. Her husband passed away in 2006, at the age of 98, two months before celebrating their 74th wedding anniversary.

Orphea Mattsfield passed away in Litchfield, Minnesota, USA, on 21 November 2021 at the age of 110 years, 16 days.

RECOGNITION

At the time of death, she was the third-oldest known living person in the U.S. state of Minnesota, behind Ruth Knelman and Lillian Moran.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Celebrating an ‘amazing’ woman: Orphea Mattsfield honored on 110th birthday” – Hutchinson Leader, 10 November 2021

* “Orphea R. Mattsfield Obituary” – Johnson-Hagglund Funeral & Cremation Service, November 2021

* “Orphea Reca Josephine Potter Mattsfield” – Find a Grave

GALLERY