Oldest Living American: Charlotte Woman Celebrates 116th Birthday

CHARLOTTE, NC — Hester Ford of Charlotte has seen quite a bit in her lifetime — world wars, the birth of 12 children, and two global pandemics. This weekend, she and her family will celebrate a momentous milestone for the ages: her 116th birthday.

As of Aug. 15, Ford will be the oldest living person in America, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

What's her secret?

"I just live right, all I know," Ford told her granddaughter recently, according to the Charlotte Observer.

Ford, was born Aug. 15, 1904 on a farm in Lancaster, South Carolina, where she learned to pick cotton and plow fields. By age 15, she had been married for a year to her husband John Ford, and expecting her first of a dozen children. The family moved to Charlotte around 1960, and her husband passed away three years later at the age of 57.

On Aug. 15, Ford will have lived twice as long as her husband.

Ford will celebrate her big day at her Charlotte home where she's lived for nearly six decades. The coronavirus pandemic, however, means it will be different from past parties. Family members will bring her birthday wishes in a drive-through parade, WTSP said.

The list of family members is long. In addition to 12 children, Ford has 68 grandchildren, 125 great-grandchildren and at least 120 great-great-grandchildren, the newspaper said.

"So we are excited about the cars coming back in and just acknowledging her and letting them know that we love her," Ford's granddaughter Mary Hill said.

"It’s so important if you do have loved ones, no matter what their age, cherish them especially when they get older and don’t forget to celebrate them,” grandson Clayton Harris said. “Because life is so short."