Winifred Nichols was born in Wyandotte, Michigan, USA on, 18 August 1910, the only child born to parents Joseph and Mabel (née Schwartz) Eberts. Her family owned a 40-acre farm, and she helped out her mother by washing and preparing the fruits and vegetables they grew, before joining her father on his Ford Model T car to sell the produce at a market in Detroit. She attended school until the 8th grade in a one-room schoolhouse that was two miles away from her home, which she had to walk to on foot. Although she was an only child, she was very close to her cousin, Ruth, who was the same age as her. The two retained this close bond for an entire century, before Ruth’s death in 2010 at the age of 100.
In September 1930, she married Emery Charles Nichols, and the pair had at three children together. The couple were married for 31 years before Emery’s death in 1961. A widow at just 50, her cousin helped her get a job working in a hospital kitchen. After the hospital closed, she worked at various different nursing homes before retiring at the age of 62.
In 2020, she celebrated her 110th birthday with her family from a distance, as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic prevented anyone from outside from safely going near her. This was her second time experiencing a global pandemic, as she had survived being infected during the global Spanish Flu outbreak of the late 1910s, over a century earlier.
Winifred Nichols passed away in Westland, Michigan, USA, on 28 September 2020, at the age of 110 years, 41 days. She was survived by two children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Her age was verified by Stefan Maglov, and was validated by LongeviQuest on 20 May 2024.
* “Wayne resident will turn 108” – The Wayne Dispatch, 29 July 2018
* “Wayne’s oldest resident turns 110” – The Wayne Dispatch (page 12), 16 September 2020
* Winifred Marien Nichols Obituary – Tribute Archive