Godfrey was born in Selmer, McNairy County, Tennessee, USA, on 7 December 1909. She was born to parents Boss Hockaday (1883–1981) and Mary Candace Jones (1890–1956). As a young woman she was running a beauty shop in Tupelo, Mississippi. When the Great Depression came, she moved back to her family’s farm in Selmer, Tennessee.

Her father and paternal grandfather both lived to be 97, and one of her paternal aunts, Allie Mae Smith (1894–2001) lived to be 106.

In the early 1930s, she married William ‘’Glenn’’ Godfrey, whom she met in Tupelo at the age of 21. In 1932, the couple moved to Selmer to the 500-acre farm where she grew up. They raised their 5 children there and everybody worked on the farm. She also had a flower shop in Selmer, and later, she would own a ceramics shop. Her two sons, Donald and Steve, got into flying, so she had a chance to fly in small planes. Her husband passed away in 1982.

At the age of 103, she lived in Wellington, Florida. In January 2012, two of her children were still alive. At that time, she also had 17 grandchildren.

Godfrey passed in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, on 8 September 2020, at the age of 110 years, 276 days.

(Partially sourced from Gerontology Wiki)