Supercentenarian Profile

Adele Dunlap

Born:

1902-12-12

Newark, New Jersey

United States

Died:

2017-02-05

Flemington, New Jersey

United States

✔ Age Certified by LongeviQuest

Adele Dunlap (née Henderson) was a validated American supercentenarian who was the oldest living American resident at the time of her death.

BIOGRAPHY

Adele Dunlap was born in Newark, New Jersey, USA, on 12 December 1902. Her parents were James Melvin Henderson (1865–1927) and Sarah McDonnell (1868–1934). Her father was born in Scotland. She had three older brothers: George Russell (1891–1965), James Melvin (1894–1943), and William Clifford Robert (1896–1989).

She graduated from Southside High School in Newark on 27 June 1921, and then enrolled at Newark State Normal School to prepare for a career in teaching, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education on 29 June 1923. After graduation, Adele taught in Kearny, New Jersey, for five years. During this time, she was introduced to Earl “Lynn” Dunlap (1902–1963) through mutual friends. They fell in love and married, after which Adele left her teaching career to start a family. They had three children—two sons and a daughter. Adele never returned to teaching, finding fulfillment as a homemaker, raising her children, and caring for her home.

As a widow, Adele remained active, traveling with friends to Maine and Florida and attending Catholic Mass on Sundays. She was active in several senior organizations and enjoyed theater outings, luncheons, and trips with her senior friends. She was still driving when, at age 87, she went to live in Clinton with her son, Earl, and his wife, Barbara, where she lived for 12 years.

At age 113, it was reported that she no longer read the newspaper because she could not hold it in her hands, and she watched very little television. The care center’s activities director described her as a “passive participant” in daily activities who “socialized minimally.” She was not a drinker, but she did occasionally enjoy a martini with her husband.

Adele Dunlap passed away at the Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, New Jersey, on 5 February 2017, at the age of 114 years, 55 days. She was survived by her two sons, Earl and Jimmy, as well as six grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren.

RECOGNITION

On 31 August 2012, following the passing of Melva Radcliffe, she became the oldest known living person in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Upon her own passing, she was succeeded by Ethel Fech.

Her age was validated by the Gerontology Research Group on 12 December 2014, and the validation was later recognized by LongeviQuest.

On 8 July 2016, following the passing of 113-year-old Goldie Michelson, she became the Oldest Living Person in the United States. She held the title until her own passing in February 2017, when she was succeeded by Delphine Gibson.

At the time of her passing, she was the second-oldest person ever to have died in New Jersey, only after Elena Slough. She was not the world’s oldest living American-born person, as Marie-Josephine Gaudette of Italy (who was born in New Hampshire) outlived her.