Missouri Archives

LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Minnie Druse of the United States at age 111. She was born in Kahoka, Missouri, United States on 21 July 1867. She was a sister, a wife, and a mother.

A few days before her 104th birthday.
(Source: Ames Daily Tribune)

As a young woman, Druse moved to Chicago and worked as a dress designer in a fashionable salon. In 1905 and 1906, her family went to Oklahoma Territory and started a photography business. After a year or two, they moved to Stronghurst, Illinois, and opened another photography business. His husband was granted the first US patent for recapping tires and for the first circular mold to produce tire treads.

In 1922, the Druse family moved from Missouri to Oskaloosa, Iowa. She continued to enjoy her hobbies such as photography, painting, and crocheting, until her eyesight began to decline around the age of 104. At the age of 75, she fractured a hip, but she didn’t move into a nursing home until she broke her knee at the age of 97.

A few days before her 109th birthday.
(Source: The Des Moines Register)

Druse passed away in Zearing, Iowa, USA, on 22 January 1978, at the age of 110 years, 185 days. The inscription on her gravestone reads, “The World’s Oldest Methodist” and “Iowa’s Oldest Resident.”

LongeviQuest congratulates Minnie Druse’s family on her posthumous recognition.

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

LongeviQuest is delighted to announce the age validation of Edith Lale at 110 years old. She was an American supercentenarian born on 10 March 1905.

Lale was born on the family farm located four and a half miles east of Odesa in Lafeyette County, Missouri, USA. From 1913 to 1919, Lale attended Rural Weaver School before completing her high school in Odessa. Subsequently, she pursued higher education at Missouri Valley College before transferring to Kansas State Agricultural College. This is where she earned her degree of Bachelor of Science in Home Economics.

As a young woman.
(Source: Legacy)

In 1951, she moved to Louisville to live with family members. She served as a research associate for the published genealogy entitled “The Lagle/Lale Family in America.” She contributed a chapter into this publication titled “Kentucky to Missouri, 1858.”

Lale passed away on 20 May 2015 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. She was 110 years and 71 days old at the time of her death.

For more information, please visit Edith Lale’s Directory Profile here.

LongeviQuest is delighted to share the age validation of Dorothy Hunter at 110 years old. She was an American supercentenarian born on 31 July 1907 in Tower Grove South, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

She was playing tennis as a hobby while growing up and would even attend turnverein classes twice a week. After graduating from high school, she enrolled in Harris Teachers College for a few years before graduating from Washington University. Her career started by teaching sixth grade students for a decade. After this, she spent most of her career teaching third grade students at Robinson Elementary School in the Kirkwood School District.

With her husband in the 1930s.
(Source: St. Louis Today)

She married her husband, Harry Hunter, whom she met at a voice studio on 4 January 1930. The couple then had only one daughter whom she would outlive.

Dorothy remained active and healthy despite her old age. At 102 years old, she can still drive her car and keep up with her friends through email. At age 110, she was still able to get up from her wheelchair and then walk to the dining table every day.

Dorothy Hunter passed away on 22 September 2017 in West County, St., Louis, Missouri, USA. She was 110 years and 53 days old at the time of her death.

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

LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Ruth Catherine Dodd of the United States at age 110. She was born in Eldon, Missouri, United States on 2 July 1909. She was the eldest of 3 siblings.

Undated.
(Source: Legacy)

Dodd graduated from Garfield High School at the age of 15, and from Wilson Business College at 16. She got her first job at a local lumber company, as a secretary. In 1931, she got married and the couple had two children. During World War II, Dodd worked as the head clerk for the local food rationing board. She then worked as a portfolio clerk in the investment department of Pacific National Bank (now Wells Fargo Bank).

Dodd passed away in Seattle, Washington, USA, on 13 August 2019, at the age of 110 years, 42 days. She was survived by her two children, 4 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren. At the time of death, she was the fourth-oldest known living person in the U.S. state of Washington, behind Ruth Apilado, Gertrude Ellison, and LaVerne Bunney.

LongeviQuest congratulates Mrs. Ruth Dodd’s family on her posthumous recognition.

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

LongeviQuest is delighted to share that Missouri’s oldest resident, Mary Chesney, celebrates her 111th birthday today.

Mary Chesney is an American supercentenarian who is currently the oldest living person in the U.S. state of Missouri. She was born on 3 August 1912 in Randolph County, Missouri, USA, to parents James William Manion and Gertrude Finnell.

On her 110th birthday.
(Source: Moberly Monitor-Index)

On 15 March 1933, she was married to Wallace Chesney and the marriage lasted for 63 years until her husband passed away in April 1996. The couple had no children.

Mary Chesney currently resides at Meadow Ridge Senior Living in Moberly, Missouri, USA.

For more information, please visit Mary Chesney’s Directory Profile here.

LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Lucille Hamm of the United States at 110 years old. She was an American supercentenarian born on 30 January 1908 in Cairo, Illinois, USA.

Hamm started working when she was young girl by helping her mother sell buckets of hominy to the local hotels. She also worked in her brother’s mousetrap factory when she was a young woman. Hamm then moved to St. Louis upon reaching 20s where she worked for decades in the shoe industry of the city.

In 1947.
(Source: LegacyTree)

At some point in her life, Hamm got married and had two children. However, she moved out with her kids after claiming that her husband was a “mean man” and an alcoholic.

Lucille Hamm retired upon reaching 72 years old and she kept driving until she was 92. She lived in her own apartment in the Tower Grove Manor retirement community. She stayed there for 15 years before moving into an assisted living facility in Chesterfield, St. Louis, in December 2015.

Lucille Hamm passed away on 20 August 2018 in St. Charles, Missouri, USA, when she was 110 years old.

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

LongeviQuest is delighted to announce the age validation of Mary Chesney at 110 years old. She is an American supercentenarian who is currently the oldest living person in Missouri, USA.

She was born in Randolph County, Missouri, USA, on 3 August 1912. Before marriage, she was born as Mary Clark Manion to parents James William Manion and Gertrude Finnell. Chesney had two older siblings whom she grew up with on a family farm in Clifton Hill.

As a child (seated) with her older siblings.
(Source: KOMU 8 News)

On 15 March 1933, she married Wallace Chesney, but the couple had no children. They stayed married for 63 years until Mr. Chesney passed away in April 1996.

Mrs. Chesney drove until she was 102 years old. She also lived on her own until she was 104 years old.

Mary Chesney’s current place of residence is in Moberly, Missouri, United States.

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

LongeviQuest is saddened to report the passing of Mrs. Velma Hinds of Macon, Missouri, USA on June 8, 2023, at the age of 112 years, 229 days.

Mrs. Hinds was born in Webb City, Missouri, USA, on 22 October 1910. She grew up in Oklahoma and later moved to Kansas, where she worked at a sewing factory for a few years. In 1934, she married William Louis Hinds Jr. with whom she had two daughters. She was an active member of the Church of God Holiness.

In December 2021, aged 111.
(Source: Facebook/Loch Haven Senior Living Community)

At the time of her passing, Mrs. Hinds was not only the oldest living person in the U.S. state of Missouri, but also the sixth-oldest living person in the United States.

LongeviQuest offers our condolences to her family and loved ones.

LongeviQuest is delighted to share that the age claim of Louise Godejohann at 110 years old is valid. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, on 31 December 1849. At the time of her death, she was considered the world’s oldest living woman.

She married William Godejohann in 1871 and they had four children which they took care of together. Two years later, they moved to Olney, Illinois where her husband became a successful manufacturer of cigars.

On her 108th birthday.
(Source: Gerontology Wiki)

She received a congratulatory letter for her 100^th birthday from President Harry S. Truman in 1950.

Godejohann passed away in the Richland Memorial Hospital in Olney, Illinois, USA, on 30 June 1960.

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

LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Mildred Lewis of Missouri, United States. She was born in Zebra, Missouri, United States on 25 December 1907 and passed away in Estero, Florida, United States on 9 December 2019 at the age of 110 years old.

Aged 109.
(Source: Naples Daily News)

She married her husband, Earl Lewis on 23 August 1930. They had two children. Her husband passed away in 1993. After turning 100 years old, she moved to Estero to live with her daughter. On her passing, she was survived by her son, two grandsons, and one great-grandson.

Mrs. Lewis attended William Woods College, where she was a member of the student council, and then graduated from Lincoln University in Jefferson City. She worked as an elementary school teacher for 25 years in Jefferson City. She was also the President of the Capital City Women’s Club and the Jefferson City Women’s Club.

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

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