BIOGRAPHY

Rose Ann Thayer was born in Farmington, Minnesota, United States, on 1 September 1905, to parents Francis Arnold and Ernestine (née Feitz) Beissel. Her father died two months shy of his 100th birthday in 1960, and her sister died in 1999 at the age of 104.

As a young woman, she moved from her family’s farm in Minnesota to Chicago, Illinois, where she began working as a nanny. In 1923, while living in the city, she married her husband, Raymond H. Thayer, and would go on to have two sons with him. The couple remained together for 61 years before his death in 1984 at the age of 85. Following her husband’s death, she moved into her own home located on her son’s farm in Wonewoc, Wisconsin.

Following her son’s death in 2012 at the age of 83, she moved to a nursing home in Jefferson, Wisconsin, where she enjoyed playing bingo, church services, baking, going for walks outdoors, and phone calls and visits from her family. At the time of her 110th birthday in 2015, she credited her longevity to “God, who has the plan,” as well as eating sunflower seeds.

Rose Thayer died in Jefferson, Wisconsin, on 16 August 2016 at the age of 110 years, 350 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age was verified by Fabrizio Villatoro, Jimmy Lindberg, and Andrew Holmes, and validated by LongeviQuest on 7 October 2023.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Rose Ann Thayer, 110, of Jefferson, Wisconsin” – Messenger of Juneau County, 29 August 2016

GALLERY