LongeviQuest is pleased to report that the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO) has validated the age of Winifred Lansdown at 110. She was born in Northwich, Cheshire, England on 14 January 1887. Lansdown is believed to have been the fifth-oldest person in California after Christian Mortensen, Lena McLachlan, Frances Johns, and Carrie Davis. Lansdown was a sister to 2 daughters, a wife, and a mother to 3 sons. Her son, Ian Strachan Lansdown, celebrated his 100th birthday in July 2013.
Lansdown died in Phelan, San Bernardino County, California at the age of 110 years, 12 days.
LongeviQuest congratulates Winifred Lansdown’s family on her posthumous recognition.
For more information, please view Lansdown’s Directory Profile here.
LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Doris Sperber at 111 years old. She was an American supercentenarian born on 20 January 1908 in Manhattan, New York, USA.
She was known as Dora Jablonsky before getting married to Reuben Sperber in 1932. The couple then had four sons together while living in Florida for 30 years. After getting married, she worked with the New York Social Services before transitioning into the roles of being a mother, homemaker, and assistant for her husband’s accounting practice.
In the 1940s, with her husband. (Source: The Jewish News of Northern California)
When she was 100 years old, she chose to have a bat mitzvah to honor her Jewish faith in 2008.
Doris Sperber passed away on 9 May 2019 in San Francisco, California, USA, when she was 111 years old. At the time of her death, she was survived by her four sons, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
For more information, please view Doris Sperber’s Directory Profile here.
LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Beulah Evelyn “Lynn” Balmer of the United States at age 110. She was born in Plumas County, California, United States on 12 September 1907. She was the eldest of nine siblings.
Balmer graduated from Chico High School in 1924 and Chico State Teacher’s College in 1927. She then taught school in Susanville for four years before attending the University of California, Berkeley. Balmer taught at Albany High School, where she was head of the mathematics department. Balmer also served as an officer in the US Coast Guard during World War II. She used her mathematical skills to read and interpret weather maps and charts, and she used Morse code to help ships navigate through dangerous waters and adverse weather conditions between the United States and England. She attained the rank of Lieutenant during her service.
After the war, Balmer was sent to Seattle, Washington, where she met and married her husband. Balmer continued her teaching career in Seattle, eventually retiring in 1967. While in Seattle, Balmer became interested in ice skating and soon became a skilled ice skater and qualified for the U.S. Figure Skating Association’s Bronze Award in Ice Dancing. She qualified for the Olympics but decided not to participate.
(Source: Chico Enterprise-Record)
Balmer spent her retirement writing and publishing books about her family’s history. In September 2014, on her 107th birthday, Chico State’s President, Paul Zingg, visited her and presented her with an award for being the oldest living California State University alumnus. Balmer passed away in Chico, Butte County, California, USA, on 9 December 2017, at the age of 110 years, 88 days. She was survived by three sisters.
LongeviQuest congratulates Beulah Balmer’s family on her posthumous recognition.
For more information, please view Balmer’s Directory Profile here.
LongeviQuest is pleased to report that Pearl Berg from California, USA, is now among the world’s top ten oldest living people. She was born on 1 October 1909 (claims 14 February 1910) in Evansville, Indiana, USA.
She is an American supercentenarian currently recognized as the second-oldest known living person in California, behind Edie Ceccarelli. Although she was from Indiana, she has been a resident of California for over 90 years. After Ushi Makishipassed away on 4 July 2023, Pearl Berg, 113 years old, became the 10th oldest living person in the world.
Her parents were of Polish and Russian descent. Moreover, her father was born in Canada, while her mother was born in Toledo, Ohio. She had a brother, Robert Samuel, and a sister, Selma.
Mrs. Berg spent her childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, before moving to Los Angeles, California, with her family in 1929-1930. This is also where Pearl met her future husband, Ukrainian immigrant Mark Berg. The couple got married in November 1931, and they had two sons named Alan and Robert.
With her husband, Mark, in 1931.
Over the years, Pearl accompanied Mark on many of his business trips, including to Japan. After his death in December 1989, Mrs. Berg had to maintain a social life for herself, so she decided to join a book club, watch concerts and plays, and become more involved with a bridge group.
Pearl Berg’s current residence is in her own home in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA.
For more information, please view Pearl Berg’s Directory Profile here.
LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Miyuki Iwaki at 111 years old. She was an American supercentenarian considered as the oldest known living person born in Hawaii, USA, at her demise.
Iwaki was born on 10 April 1911 in Lahaina, Hawaii, which is an incorporated territory of the United States at that time. She was born to Japanese immigrants parents.
At some point in her life, she moved from Hawaii to California, USA where she became a long-time resident of Los Angeles. She had four children.
Undated. (Source: Fukui Mortuary)
Miyuki Iwaki passed away on 7 May 2022 in Garden Grove, California, USA. At the time of her death, she was 111 years old and 27 days. She was survived by eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
For more information, please view Miyuki Iwaki’s Directory Profile here.
LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Sarah Millicent Newman of the United States at 111 years old. She was born in Thompson, Windham County, Connecticut, United States on 12 January 1876, and passed away in Pacific Grove, California, United States on 11 June 1987. She was 111 years old. Newman was married twice and had one daughter who lived to be 98.
LongeviQuest congratulates Mrs. Newman’s family on her posthumous recognition.
For more information, please view Mrs. Newman’s Directory Profile here.
It is with a heavy heart that LongeviQuest has confirmed the passing of the third-oldest validated living resident of California, Doris Johnson, at the age of 111. The only two residents of California confirmed to be older than Mrs, Johnson are Edie Ceccarelli and Pearl Berg, who are are 115 and 113 years old, respectively.
Mrs. Johnson was born in Turlock, California, USA, on 6 November 1911, to parents Gunnard Emanuel and Anna Marie Wickstrom. She graduated from Turlock High School in 1929 and had worked as a nurse during her life.
In 1936, she married Martin Edward Wedin, but the two had no children.
On her 110th birthday. (Photo by: Andy Alfaro/Modesto Bee)
She remarried in 1987 to Donald Ernest Johnson and the couple travelled together around the country.
She was a devoted member of Beulah Covenant Church and her love for Jesus was evident in her daily life.
Doris Johnson passed away at the Covenant Living of Turlock Care Home on 18 May 2023, at the age of 111 years old.
LongeviQuest offers our sincere condolences to the family and friends.
For more information, please visit Doris Johnson’s Directory Profile here.
Longeviquest is glad to announce the validation of Berta Gutierrez’s age claim of 110 years old. She is an American supercentenarian who is among the top 10 oldest residents of the state of California.
Gutierrez was born in El Paso, Texas, on 22 February 1913 while her parents are originally from Mexico. At some point in her life, she decided to move and be a resident of Hayward, California where she is still currently staying at.
On her 110th birthday in 2023. (Source: Facebook/Mark Salinas)
Researchers knew about her when she was reported by a major news outlet after celebrating becoming a supercentenarian this year.
For more information, please view Berta Gutierrez’s Directory Profile here.
LongeviQuest has validated the age claim for Pearl Berg (born 1909), currently the second-oldest known living person in the U.S. state of California. Additionally, Mrs. Berg is believed to be the world’s oldest living person of the Jewish faith.
Photo originally published by the Jewish Journal (jewishjournal.com)
Born Pearl Synenberg in Indiana to parents of Polish and Russian descent, Mrs. Berg spent her childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She moved to California near the end of the 1920s, and nearly immediately met her husband Mark Berg, an immigrant from present-day Ukraine. The two were married in 1931 and had two sons, and Mrs. Berg has lived in California ever since. Widowed in 1989, Mrs. Berg maintains an active life. She currently resides in her own home and is an active member of her synagogue.
Mrs. Berg’s age was validated by LongeviQuest on 18 January 2023 based on the research of Stefan Maglov.
