Merle E. Barwis (December 23, 1900 – November 22, 2014) was an American-Canadian
supercentenarian
A supercentenarian, sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian, is a person who is 110 or older. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of significant age-related diseases until short ...
who was at the time of her death, aged 113 years 334 days, the oldest living resident of Canada and one of oldest people ever in Canada.
She became the oldest living person in Canada from the death of
Cora Hansen on April 18, 2012, until her own death 2 years and 7 months later.
Barwis was the last living Canadian person to have been born during the reign of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
.
Biography
Merle Barwis was born on December 23, 1900, in
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...
, United States. A few years later, her family moved to
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
, Canada.
[Canada’s oldest known citizen — and last Victorian — prepares to turn 112 before Christmas](_blank)
Retrieved July 20, 2014. She married Dewey Barwis in 1923 and had three children.
Her husband worked in the
Canadian Pacific railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
. In 1952, her husband having retired, her family moved to
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...
. Her husband died in 1966.
She outlived her two sons and two of her 10 grandchildren. At the time of her death, she had 17 great-grandchildren.
At the time of her death she was the fourth-longest lived person ever in Canada and the oldest person ever to live in
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
.
See also
*
List of Canadian supercentenarians
This article lists Canadian supercentenarians (people from Canada who have attained the age of at least 110 years). The oldest verified Canadian person ever was Marie-Louise Meilleur, who died in 1998 aged 117 years, 230 days. As of , the oldest ...
*
List of supercentenarians from the United States
American supercentenarians are citizens or residents of the United States who have attained or surpassed 110 years of age. By January 2015, the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) had validated the longevity claims of 782 American supercentenarians. ...
*
Longevity
Longevity may refer to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is defined Statistics, statistically as the average number of years remaining at a given age. For example, a population's life expectancy at birth ...
References
External links
Celebrating a 111th BirthdayYouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barwis, Merle
Canadian supercentenarians
Canadian women centenarians
Women supercentenarians
American supercentenarians
American expatriates in Canada
American emigrants to Canada