Who Is The Oldest Person In Michigan History?

Michigan's oldest person passed away this weekend at the age of 114.

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Irene Dunham of Lansing, Michigan was born on December 16th, 1907, and grew up on a family farm outside of Bath Township.

According to the Lansing State Journal, in 2021 Irene Dunham became Michigan's oldest living resident and the sixth oldest resident in the U.S. She was also the 22nd oldest living person in the world, according to records from the Gerontology Research Group, a group of researchers that verifies and tracks supercentenarians.

What's A Supercentenarian?

Wikipedia says a supercentenarian is a person who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of major age-related diseases until shortly before the maximum human lifespan is reached.

Irene Dunham Survived A Lot Of Close Calls In Life

The Lansing State Journal reported back in March of 2021 that Irene Dunham lived through the Great Depression, both World Wars, and two pandemics. She was also the oldest surviving student of the Bath Consolidated School, which was bombed in 1927 in the deadliest act of school violence in American history.

Back in 2014, at the age of 106, Irene Dunham sat down with Simple Joy and shared her life story.

There is no doubt that Irene lived a long wonderful life and left a lasting impact.

Just days before her death, Irene met September Rambo, her great-great-great-granddaughter, who was born on April 27th.