Name Cora Hansen | Died April 18, 2012 | |
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Cora Hansen (née Clausen, 25 March 1899 – 18 April 2012) was an American-born Canadian supercentenarian of Norwegian descent who, at the age of 113 years, 24 days, was the oldest validated living person in Canada, a title she had held since Margaret Fitzgerald died on 20 October 2009. (or Chinese-Canadian woman Sum Ying Fung died on 6 December 2011 if her claim age was correct.)
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Biography
Cora Hansen was born in Minnesota on March 25, 1899 to Elling Clausen Skjelbreid (born 1852) and Else Marie Jensdatter Grønnøy (born 1856), farmers who emigrated to the United States from Drangedal in Telemark, Norway. In 1912 Hansen and her family moved on to Jenner, Alberta, Canada. She married a man named Richard Hansen, and they both retired in Elkwater in 1972. She moved into the Valleyview Care Centre in Medicine Hat, Alberta in her 90s. She died there on April 18, 2012 at the age of 113 years, 24 days. After her death, Merle Barwis became the oldest Canadian living person.
Personal life
She had one daughter Eleanor, two grandchildren Jim and Allyson and one great-grandson Brooks living today. On her 108th birthday in 2007, she credited her longevity to God and living a simple life without drinking any alcohol. Despite being bedridden and having serious vision and hearing problems, she was active, alert and lucid from time to time. According to a notice of Hansen's death posted on CTV News's website "she credited her longevity to good genes, regular walks and a lifestyle that avoided cigarettes and alcohol." She also had two living nieces, Else Sharp who was 99 at the time (now deceased), Emma Clausen who was 94 at the time, and a nephew, Alfred Clausen who was 97 at the time.