# How old were you when you lost your last grandparent? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 29, 2008, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617 "2008-02-29T06:49:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![StayseaDee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@StayseaDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StayseaDee)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/81 "2014-06-12T17:17:45Z")
I lost my maternal grandfather before I was born. My paternal grandfather died when I was 10 years old. My paternal grandmother passed when I was 16 years old or so. And just lost my maternal grandmother in April 2013, when I was 27. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/82 "2014-06-12T17:20:11Z")
I was 18 when I lost my paternal grandmother, and 21 when I lost my maternal grandmother. Both of my grandfathers died when I was 27, and they died about six weeks apart. My mother died when I was 23, and my dad four years later. The seventies were not a good time for me. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/83 "2014-06-12T20:19:26Z")
My maternal grandparents both died while my **mother** was still young. Something like age 7 and age 16 as I recall. So I never knew them. My dad’s father died just before my son was born so I was 27. I recall my grandmother saying she would live to see our child then die. Before he was born another grandchild of hers was expecting, and this continued for several years, with my grandmother constantly thinking this great grandchild would be her last. She died when I was 31. My son remembers her a little bit which I’m thankful for as she was a really great person. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/84 "2014-06-12T20:31:28Z")
My maternal grandfather died when my mom was pregnant with me. His wife/my maternal grandmother, the person who I probably loved most for the first half of my life, died when I was fourteen. Pancreatic cancer. One of the two times I saw my father cry was when his mother-in-law died. On my father’s side, my great-grandparents both died of the general disability of old age when I was six. My paternal grandmother and grandfather both died within a few months of each other, when I was 38. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/85 "2014-06-12T21:03:47Z")
I was 44 when my maternal grandfather died, at 98. The other three died before I was born. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/86 "2014-06-12T21:04:24Z")
I was in my 40’s when I lost both maternal grandparents. They both lived into their 90’s, as did one of my paternal great-grandmothers who died when I was 13. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/87 "2014-06-12T21:18:17Z")
I was two when my last grandparent died, and I have no memory … but a picture of me sitting on her lap. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/88 "2014-06-12T22:09:58Z")
The three who were by all accounts “the good ones” all died before I was born. The other one was difficult to get along with even when she was younger, and her senile dementia didn’t make her any pleasanter to be around. She died at the age of 89 when I was about 11. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/89 "2014-06-12T22:23:03Z")
My last remaining grandparent, my maternal grandmother, died 4 years ago, when I was 48 years old. She was 90. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/90 "2014-06-12T23:08:50Z")
Deaths and my age at the time follow: Paternal GF, -10 Maternal GF, 7 Paternal GM, 20 Maternal GM, 26 Generations run long in my family. Recently there was a news story about a toddler who died in a hot tub while his great grandparents were supposed to be looking after him. The idea that any kid has great grandparents who are (a) not dead and (b) young enough to “look after” them amazes me. One GGF homesteaded some land in Kansas after being mustered out of the Union Army, and died about 35 years before I was born. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/91 "2014-06-12T23:27:33Z")
I only saw my paternal grandparents occasionally and wasn’t close to them. But my maternal grandparents were a big part of my life. As my mom was a single working mom, I spent a lot of time with them. The most idyllic memory of my childhood is swinging in a hammock in their back yard and looking up as the sunlight filtered through the trees. My grandfather died when I was 23. My grandmother lived to be 92, and I was 41 when she died. I took her out to eat a couple times a month up through the last year of her life. She was a great lady with a wonderful sense of humor, and I loved her very much. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/92 "2014-06-12T23:34:30Z")
All my grandparents were dead before I was born. Before any of my siblings were born, in fact (I’m the youngest). ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/93 "2014-06-12T23:36:19Z")
I also started life with three grandparents, my maternal grandfather having died of TB in 1933 when my mother was four. My father’s father was the next to die in 1963 when I was nine (lung cancer and cardiac). My maternal grandmother died in 1973 of a myocardial infarct. I was 19. Dad’s mother died when I was about 30, not long after I had my first son. She was in her 90s but had dementia. If I have to go, I want to go like my other grandmother - quickly. ETA - my own parents died young (Dad first at 64 when my elder son was eight and Mum at 69 when my son was 16. I miss my grandparents still, but I think my sons missed out on more. At least I had three of my grandparents around when I was growing up. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/94 "2014-06-12T23:43:29Z")
I’m 52. My maternal grandmother is still alive and in her 90’s. I haven’t seen her in years. Family history and her personality were such that I never wanted much to do with her. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/95 "2014-06-12T23:59:51Z")
Two extremes in my family: My paternal grandfather died when my father was still a child; obviously I never knew him. My maternal grandmother lived to the age of 100. I was 45 when she died. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/96 "2014-06-13T00:01:15Z")
Never mind. Zombie thread. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/97 "2014-06-13T00:23:03Z")
Zombie thread, but no zombie grandparents here. I lost three, at ages 12, 22 and 29. The fourth is still alive - I’m 37 and she’s 83. I have these strange guilty feelings about that too - two of my best friends since high school have lost their mothers, yet I still have a grandmother. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/98 "2014-06-13T00:27:52Z")
I lost my paternal grandmother when I was 31. Weirdly, a couple of months before that I lost my father and maternal grandmother _on the same day_. ---
**Author:** ![barker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@barker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barker)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/99 "2014-06-13T00:45:48Z")
Maternal Grandfather Before I was Born Maternal Grandmother 32 Paternal Grandfather 10 Paternal Grandmother 14 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617/100 "2014-06-13T00:50:34Z")
Paternals: Grandmother, 9 Grandfather, 9 (he died 3 months after her) [As strongly contrasted with] Maternals: Grandfather, 11 Grandmother, 49 (yes, she outlived him by 38 years, got to age 99, died two years ago) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-lost-your-last-grandparent/439617.md?page=6)