Rest in peace, Mrs. Ford.
America is in mourning as supercentenarian, Hester Ford, passed away peacefully in her home in the city. Hester Ford, recognized as the oldest living American, was 116 at the time of her passing, according to her family.
Ford, born in 1904, was raised in Lancaster, South Carolina, where she then grew up and married John Ford, the husband with which she’d have 12 children. He died 40 years after their marriage, and Ford lived for 60 more years after his passing, alongside their children. Her grandchildren ranged somewhere in the 40s. She passed away in her home in Charlotte, North Carolina on April 17th, 2021.
Hester Ford, oldest person in America, dead at 116 https://t.co/MGrMU13nly pic.twitter.com/e495bPLkZ9
— New York Post (@nypost) April 18, 2021
Ford was a wealth of American history, knowledge, struggle, and triumph as she lived through some of America’s bleakest and proudest moments.
Ford’s great grandaughter, Tanisha Monte Powe, made an official family statement on Facebook regarding Ford’s life and passing. “Her light shined beyond her local area and she lived beyond a century with memories containing real life experience of over 100 years.,” Powe wrote. “She not only represented the advancement of our family but of the Black African American race and culture in our country. She was a reminder of how far we have come as people on this earth.”
[featured image via Wikia]