BIOGRAPHY

Tuberdyck was born as Reva Blanche LaVack in Lupton, Ogemaw County, Michigan, USA, on 19 November 1909. She was the first of ten children born to parents Oliver LaVack (1888–1961) and June Whittemore (1890–1959). In her youth, she worked part-time at Gilbert’s Drug Store, working on Saturday and Sunday nights until she graduated from Oscoda High School. After graduation, she attended Michigan State Normal College in Ypsilanti (today known as Eastern Michigan University) for two years in hopes of becoming a teacher, but she was unable to continue with her studying due to her family’s financial struggles during the Great Depression.

After returning to Oscoda, she started working at Gilbert’s Drug Store again, where she eventually met her future husband, Charles Tuberdyck. The couple moved to Detroit, where they got married and had two children. Her husband worked at the Detroit Edison Company, and during the Second World War she worked at the Detroit Diesel Factory making war materials for about six months. After their children grew up and moved out, the couple moved to California, where they lived for 30 years. After her husband retired in 1968, the couple decided to buy a retirement home in Oscoda, returning there every summer to be with family.

Her husband died in 1996. Following her husband’s death, she started spending move and more time in Oscoda, eventually returning to live there. At the age of 100, she traveled to Arizona and walked the Carlsbad Caverns National Park and renewed her driver’s license. She stopped driving on her own free will since she was not hearing perfectly anymore.

Reva Tuberdyck died in Oscoda, Michigan, USA on 18 December 2021 at the age of 112 years, 29 days. She was survived by her two children, four grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and her younger brother, Eugene LaVack.

RECOGNITION

At the time of her death, she was the third-oldest known living person in Michigan, behind Irene Dunham and Julia Dennis.

Her age was validated by LongeviQuest on 26 February 2023.

ATTRIBUTION

GALLERY