stripes stripes
Directory
profile-photo
profile-photo

Margaret Skeete

Validated By: On Date: Feb. 10th 2023

Margaret S. "Mattie" Skeete (née Seward) was the oldest living person in the United States from the death of Ettie Mae Greene on 26 February 1992, until her own death two years later. Skeete was the last verified person born in the year 1878, and she remains the longevity recordholder of the U.S. state of Texas.

jump-to-icon Biography jump-to-icon Recognition jump-to-icon Gallery jump-to-icon News

Biography

Margaret Seward was born in Rockport, Texas, on 27 October 1878, to Henry and Margaret Smith Seward. She married Renn Skeete in Harris, Texas, in January 1908. The couple had 3 children.


After her husband’s death in 1953, Margaret moved from Texas to Virginia, to live with her daughter Verne. Skeete died on 7 May 1994, six weeks after a fall. She was survived by her daughter Verne, who went on to become a centenarian herself, passing away in 2009, aged 100.


Advertise with us

Learn More

Recognition

At the time of her death, Skeete was the oldest living person in the United States, and the second-oldest person in the world, after Jeanne Calment of France.