# Oldest person you ever met. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 21, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485 "2012-04-21T06:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/21 "2012-04-21T18:31:52Z")
I answered 107, because that is the current age of my still living grandmother. Ask me again on December 17th, and I would say 108. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/22 "2012-04-21T18:55:52Z")
I’ve never to my knowledge met someone over 100. A friend of mine once introduced me to her great-aunt (or maybe it was a great-great-aunt), a lady of 97 or 98. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/23 "2012-04-21T20:59:35Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I answered 107, because that is the current age of my still living grandmother. Ask me again on December 17th, and I would say 108. That is really high up there statistically. Have you asked her if she plans to shoot for the record? ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/24 "2012-04-21T21:15:59Z")
My great-grandfather was 103, and I know I was at at least his 101st birthday party - he still played the ‘bones’ (two sticks held in one hand and slapped against the other hand (or arm or leg)). My grandmother was 95 (and the other side of the family) - so I’ve got some good genes (although late 60’s is doing good in my direct paternal line). ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/25 "2012-04-21T21:29:28Z")
My mother spent her last few years in assisted-living and nursing homes, so I met a few of her fellow inmates who were over 100. Wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. ---
**Author:** ![limegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/26 "2012-04-21T23:31:55Z")
My mom will be 100 on July 5, so then I can vote in the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/27 "2012-04-21T23:42:04Z")
The oldest person I ever spoke with was Jackrabbit Johansen (the Swede who introduced cross-country skiing to North America). He was 98 and, sure enough, on skis. I spoke to him for a few minutes. He gave up skiing a few years after that and died at 113. I was at a Kabuki theater in Tokyo. Most of the musicians were sitting cross-legged on mats, but one was on a stool. The English language commentary mentioned that he was, IIRC, 104. But of course, I didn’t meet him. AFAIK, I have never actually met anyone over 100. ---
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/28 "2012-04-22T00:28:00Z")
Oldest person I ever knew was younger than 100, although if alive today he’d be 110+. My own great-grandfather, who fought in WWI. Strangely, his daughter-in-law only outlived him by about 8 years, and his own son by 5 years. Those being my grandparents on that side, who were both gone in their 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/29 "2012-04-22T00:45:38Z")
My last surviving uncle died several weeks ago at 104. Enlisted in the Navy in 1945 when he was 37. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/30 "2012-04-22T01:22:08Z")
My grandfather died at 102. My aunt is now 99 and I don’t think she’ll die until she lives longer than he did. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/31 "2012-04-22T02:35:35Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > My grandfather made it to 97, died plowing with a mule. Lazy bum, had he been doing it himself he would still be alive! 😉 I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone over 100. I know a couple of people who are in their 90s though, and I think one of my great grandmothers made it to her mid 90s and I remember meeting her. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/32 "2012-04-22T11:05:35Z")
My paternal great grandfather was 100+ when he passed away, I don’t remember meeting him, but he was alive until I was a pre-teen My paternal grandfather was 90+ when he passed away My father was late 80s when he passed away My mother is in her mid 80s My maternal aunt is in her late 80s ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/33 "2012-04-22T14:47:45Z")
A woman in my home church lived to be 106. I voted 104 in the poll, though, as that’s how old she was the last time I saw her. She never married. I told her I was pretty sure that’s why she lived so long. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/34 "2012-04-22T14:51:15Z")
Oldest I’ve met personally was 101, but I’ve known a few dozen folks in their 90s, and maybe hundreds in their 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/35 "2012-04-22T15:07:00Z")
> [@PandaBear77](#): > > She never married. I told her I was pretty sure that’s why she lived so long. Dude. Can I use this in a novel or something? ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/36 "2012-04-22T16:01:40Z")
Back in the early eighties, when I worked in a nursing home, one of our residents was 106. She had been a suffragette back in the day and had some interesting stories to tell. She was lucid most of the time, hard of hearing and could no longer walk unassisted, but kept her sense of humor and piano playing abilities until close to the end. My own great grandfather was ninety-six when he passed (I was four). He had gone to mass that morning, stopped at Hooples for a pint, come home (via mule cart because he never drove an auto), worked in the garden for a couple of hours, went in when my granny called him for dinner (lunch for you city folk 😛 ), laid down for a nap and never woke up. We should all be so lucky to go that way! ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/37 "2012-04-22T16:08:56Z")
In 2007 I left a job at an assisted living center. One of the residents was 107 years old. She still had her wits; she lived there because she was mostly blind and needed some help with showers, medications, etc. It was almost surreal to see her grandson come in and visit her. The grandson himself was an old man (to me), probably in his late 60’s. She had a framed letter on her wall from the President, congratulating her for reaching 100 years old. It had Bill Clinton’s signature on it. She told stories of men she knew going off to fight in France during the Great War. This was _after_ she finished high school and was married. Very strange. I feel lucky to have met her, and heard some of her stories. She actually lived another couple of years after I left. She fell and broke a hip. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/38 "2012-04-22T17:11:32Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > Less than any options in the poll so I can’t vote. Probably in their 70s but I don’t like to ask. > [@rachelellogram](#): > > My great-grandpa who died when I was in my teens. He was 81. I may have encountered someone older than that, since I played sax for a \*lot \*of nursing homes in my high school years. But I don’t think it’s really polite to ask a group of strangers who among them is a centenarian. My first attempt at a poll and I botched it. My sincere apologies.:smack::smack::smack:. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/39 "2012-04-22T17:20:12Z")
My father’s mother’s mother lived to be 104 and she died in the mid 1960s. If she had been born a little later, she might have made it to 110. I remember she had a myna bird. A talking bird was much more interesting than an old lady who smelled like mothballs. But, hell, I was just a kid the last time I saw her. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485/40 "2012-04-22T18:55:15Z")
I was actually surprised to see someone ( **Hari Seldon** ) mention someone above 110. I took a WAG at it and figured the odds that you’ll run into a random supercentenarian are between 1-in-10 and 1-in-20 million against the current human population of the earth (roughly 300 to 450 supercentenarians). Naturally, the reality is skewed, since you’re more likely to find someone of this age in a developed country with a competent record keeping as opposed to less developed countries, so maybe the odds are actually a little lower. That being said… If my half-assed assumptions are correct, you odds of breaking the age of 110 are still 5x to 10x better then winning the MegaMillions Jackpot (1 in 175,711,536). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-you-ever-met/619485.md?page=1)