1999 Archives

LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Ethel May Pease of Canada at age 110. She was born in Constable Burton, North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom on 9 May 1888. She was the seventh of twelve children.

Pease grew up in a small village and attended the local school. After finishing school at 14, she began learning how to sew, with the goal of becoming a seamstress. When World War I broke out, she trained to become a nurse and served in a military hospital in Manchester. After the war, she returned home and taught elementary school children. Pease got married in 1920 and the couple had 2 children. Her family moved around England before settling near Leeds, where her husband worked as the manager of a meat products factory. After her husband passed away in 1964, she moved to Canada to live with her daughter.

(Source: The Ottawa Citizen, 22 Jan 1999)

Pease was diagnosed with a heart condition at the age of 63 and was advised to avoid excitement. However, she remained active and healthy throughout her life. In her 80s, she started drinking a teaspoon of whiskey in her warm milk at bedtime. Pease never went to the hospital and traveled to England every year until she was 93. At the age of 103, she moved into a nursing home and started using a walker. Pease remained lucid until a few weeks before her death.

Pease passed away in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on 19 January 1999, at the age of 110 years, 255 days. At the time of death, she was the third-oldest living person in Canada, behind Maria Mallozzi (born 25 September 1887) and Zelda McCague (born 28 March 1888).

LongeviQuest congratulates Ethel May Pease’s family on her posthumous recognition.

For more information, please view Pease’s Directory Profile here.

LongeviQuest recently reviewed the case of Mr. Denzō Ishizaki of Japan – a previously validated supercentenarian who held the titles of the world’s oldest living man and Japan’s oldest man ever at the time of his passing in 1999, at the age of 112.

His age had previously been validated by the Gerontology Research Group. However, upon reviewing the documentation, the Global Validation Commission concluded that his validated date of birth was incorrect. For about two decades, since GRG’s validation, it was believed that Ishizaki was born on October 20, 1886. The evidence located by two LongeviQuest Japan researchers, Ryohei Asano and Yumi Yamamoto, shows that Ishizaki was older than what was previously believed.

Based on information from the family register and the National Directory of Senior Citizens, the Commission concluded that his actual birthdate was October 2, 1886, meaning he was 18 days older. Therefore, his final age was not 112 years, 191 days, but 112 years, 209 days.

At the time of his passing, he was the oldest living man and person in Japan, the world’s oldest living man, and the oldest Japanese man ever. He was never recognized for these titles, as the claimed 120-year-old Shigechiyo Izumi was still believed to have been older, and it was not until 2011 that his validation was withdrawn.

LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Amelia Florence “Flo” Fuss of South Australia, Australia. She was born in Bald Hills, South Australia, Australia on 5 January 1889, and passed away in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia on 7 April 1999 at the age of 110. Mrs. Fuss was the ninth of ten children of English Parents.

As a young woman.

She married her husband Leslie Fuss in 1911 and had 5 children (four daughters and a son). They worked on a farm until her husband’s pneumonia forced them to move to Adelaide. In 1964, her husband passed away.

On her 100^th birthday, her daughters requested her birth certificate so she could receive a letter from Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her becoming a centenarian. However, they found out that she was three days younger – her birth was registered as occurring on January 5, instead of January 2 as they believed. She was survived by four daughters, 11 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and 10 great-great-grandchildren.

LongeviQuest congratulates Mrs. Fuss’s family on her posthumous recognition.

For more information, please view Mrs. Fuss’s Directory Profile here.