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Edie Ceccarelli

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Edie Ceccarelli
Edie Ceccarelli
Ceccarelli the day before her 116th birthday in 2024, with her second cousin-in-law Evelyn Persico
Birth: 5 February 1908
Willits, California, USA
Death: 22 February 2024
Willits, California, USA
Age: 116 years, 17 days
Country: United StatesUSA
Validated

Edith Rose "Edie" Ceccarelli (née Recagno, formerly Keenan; 5 February 1908 – 22 February 2024) was an American supercentenarian who was the oldest known living person in the United States at the time of her death. However, she was not the oldest living American-born person as Maria Branyas Morera of Spain was older. Ceccarelli also ranked as the second-oldest living person in the world at the time of her death, whose age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG), after Branyas Morera. She was the last surviving American born in the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt.

Biography

Early Life

Edith Rose Recagno was born in Willits, Mendocino County, California, USA on 5 February 1908. She was the first of seven children born to Italian immigrants Agostino (1874–1965) and Maria (née Petronavi) Recagno (1881–1973). Her siblings were named Annette Kennedy, Frank Recagno, Peter Recagno, Anita Mangano, Virginia Stafford, and George Recagno.

She attended Willits Union High School, where she enjoyed playing sports and was a part of the school band, playing a saxophone her mother had bought for her. During the summer, she would work at a resort in Hopland. After graduating in 1927, she worked a few jobs around Ukiah and later attended a business college in Eureka. She worked in Humboldt County for two years, using her business education as a poultry producer, then returned to Willits.

She married Elmer Lawrence "Brick" Keenan (1909-1984), her high school sweetheart, on 17 November 1933. They later moved to Santa Rosa, California, where her husband worked as a pressman for the Santa Rosa Democrat. They adopted one daughter, Laureen Anne Hutchins (1938-2003), who died of a rare genetic disorder that also took the lives of her own three children. One of her closest relatives in later years was Evelyn Persico, who is married to her second cousin.

Later Life

When her husband retired after 36 years, they returned to Willits; later on, she recalled, “I like the small town; you know more people. You go to a big city, you don’t know anybody.” Following her first husband's death after 50 years of marriage, she married Charles Ceccarelli (1913-1990) in 1986; he died four years later.

She was known to have "absolutely loved people", always being a very social and upbeat person. Edie was also known for her generosity, especially with children. As an older woman, she would often give toys to young children as they walked past her house on the way to school. Edie loved dancing; after her longtime dance partner Ed Burton died in 2010, she published in article in the local newspaper asking for a new partner. Her secret to longevity was "drinking two fingers of wine with dinner and minding your own business".

Even as a centenarian, she would organize her own birthday parties, inviting the whole town to come. She lived in her own home until the age of 107, after which she moved into Holy Spirit Care Home in Willits. She had one hip replaced at the age of 109 and the other at the age of 111. She was always so healthy that she never needed any prescription medication.

Ceccarelli celebrated her 110th birthday and became a supercentenarian in February 2018; her birthday cake had 110 candles on it. During her supercentenarian years, her cognitive faculties were gradually diminished by the effects of dementia. She was still capable of walking with the aid of a walker as of her 114th birthday in 2022, but as of her 115th birthday it was reported that she was no longer walking or drinking wine with her meals. She was still able to put on her own lipstick at the age of 113. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her town celebrated her 113th birthday with a parade instead of the usual party; this tradition continued with each birthday that came after. She was visited by Robert Young (GRG administrator and correspondent) and Natalie Coles on 26 October 2023. At the age of 115, she was still able to eat without assistance.

In February 2024, she celebrated her 116th birthday, becoming the 29th person to reach that age and the first person in the USA to do so since Susannah Mushatt Jones in July 2015. This also made her the first American resident born in the 20th century to reach this age. In the months leading up to her 116th birthday, her health had begun to decline further; she started to lose her appetite in her final few weeks and spent more time sleeping. Those close to her knew that this birthday would be her last.

Edith "Edie" Ceccarelli passed away in Willits, Mendocino County, California, USA on the afternoon of 22 February 2024, at the age of 116 years, 17 days; "She slipped into deep sleep and passed away without pain or discomfort, in her bed at the Holy Spirit Care Home in the afternoon on a most beautiful sunny day."

Following her death, 114-year-old Elizabeth Francis became the oldest validated living person in the United States and the last US resident born in the 1900s decade, and German-born Ilse Meingast became the oldest person in California. She was succeeded as the world's second-oldest person by Tomiko Itooka of Japan.

Ceccarelli was buried in a family plot at Willits Cemetery on 15 March 2024. During the memorial service the following day, her cousin Lee Persico described Edie as “truly a one-of-a-kind person who enjoyed life to its fullest."

Longevity Records

Ceccarelli became the oldest living person in California following the death of Mila Mangold on 2 July 2022.

Following the death of Bessie Hendricks on 3 January 2023, she became the oldest validated living person in the United States.

Following the death of Hazel Plummer on 25 May 2023, she became the last surviving validated person in the United States who was born in 1908, as well as one of two American-born people remaining born before 1909 (the other being Maria Branyas Morera, who was also born in California).

On 16 October 2023, at the age of 115 years, 253 days, she became the oldest person ever to have lived in California after surpassing the final age of Christian Mortensen of San Rafael, California. However, she never became the oldest Californian-born person or even the oldest living person born in California because of Branyas Morera, who was born in San Francisco eleven months before her.

Following the death of Fusa Tatsumi on 12 December 2023, she became the second-oldest validated living person in the world behind Branyas Morera.

Ceccarelli is currently the 33rd-oldest validated person ever, and the youngest person to die at the age of 116. She is the ninth-oldest validated person to ever live in the United States and the tenth-oldest validated person ever to have been born in the United States. She is also the oldest person ever to die in the month of February.

Gallery

References


United States' Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E)

Lucy Woodman • Nancy Merriman • Betsy Baker • Jennie Howell • Catherine Waller • Robert Early • Nettie Minick • Mary Kelly • James King • Narcissa Rickman • Kitty Harvey • Ettie Crist • Ginevra Donovan • Mary Bittlebrun • Ellen Cooke • Alice Coles • Eliza Underwood • Nellie Spencer • Emma Wilson • Augusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Florence Knapp • Easter Wiggins • Delphia Welford • Margaret Skeete • Wilhelmina Kott • Georgia Ella Jordan • Sarah Knauss • Ella Miller • Maude Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Mary Christian • Elena Slough • Charlotte Benkner • Emma Verona Johnston • Elizabeth Bolden • Emma Tillman • Corinne Dixon Taylor • Edna Parker • Gertrude Baines • Mary Josephine Ray • Neva Morris • Eunice Sanborn • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Goldie Michelson • Adele Dunlap • Delphine Gibson • Ophelia Burks • Lessie Brown • Alelia Murphy • Hester Ford • Thelma Sutcliffe • Bessie Hendricks • Edie Ceccarelli • Elizabeth Francis • Naomi Whitehead



California's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E)

Fannie Thomas • Mary Phil Cota • Walter Wilcox • Gregory Pandazes • Mary McKinney • Bertha Blair • Unknown • Zoe Hiehle • Katherine Jones • Amy Harris • Miriam Carpelan • Christian Mortensen • Frances Johns • Clara Huhn • Adelina Domingues • Mary Christian • Emma Taylor • Elma Corning • Margaret Russell • Marion Higgins • Gertrude Baines • Soledad Mexia • Opal Thompson • Dominga Velasco • Florence Boggs • Clarence Matthews • Minnie Whicker • Lucy Mirigian • Mila Mangold • Edie Ceccarelli • Ilse Meingast

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