Name Grace Clawson | Died May 28, 2002 | |
Grace McCalmont Clawson (née Taylor) (15 November 1887 – 28 May 2002), was an English-American supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in the United States and the world's oldest person (WOP) for two months in 2002, following the death of Maude Farris-Luse. She was not recognized as the WOP back then because her age was only posthumously verified by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) and because Kamato Hongo's age claim was accepted until 2012, when the GRG withdrew its acceptance of it.
She was born in London, England, but her family moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada with her only sister. After her parents divorced when she was a teenager, she lived with foster parents until she married Ray Clawson in 1917. She had two daughters, Viola and Gladys, and became a widow in 1950. Before retiring, she worked as an embroiderer and as an office worker.
At age 95, in 1982, Mrs. Clawson moved to the U.S. state of Florida, in order to live with her younger daughter Gladys, doing so for many years before going to live to an assisted living facility. She remained mentally sharp until her very last day of life, enjoying talks with her family and friends. Mrs. Clawson died on 28 May 2002, aged 114 years, 194 days. She was survived by her 2 daughters, Viola and Gladys (aged 83 and 79 at the time), 5 grandchildren, 14 great- grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren.
She long believed that she was born in 1889 until her family ordered her birth certificate from the United Kingdom and discovered that Clawson was actually two years older than she thought she was. Before finding out this fact, Clawson celebrated her 100th birthday in 1989, when it was actually her 102nd birthday.