Eunice Bowman

Eunice Bowman (née Crook) (23 August 1898 – 16 July 2010) was a verified British supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in the United Kingdom since the death of Florrie Baldwin on 8 May 2010.

Biography
Bowman was born in Ince-in-Makerfield, Lancashire, England, as the second of twelve children born to Thomas and Sarah Crook (née Hosler). Bowman was baptized on 13 November 1898 at Christ Church, Ince-In-Makerfield, Wigan, Lancashire. At Ince, the Crook family lived at 38, Bird Street, near Wigan.

The family moved to Felling, Gateshead in 1905 following to the decline in the textile industry so Thomas could work in the coal mines. Bowman was kept off school each week to help look after her younger siblings and do the washing and ironing. After school, Bowman worked in a fish & chip shop with her grandmother.

During World War I, Bowman worked seven days per week in 12-hour shifts at the Armstrong Munitions factory in Newcastle, walking daily from Felling to Scotswood. Bowman started with messenger work, and then worked on putting gunpowder in the fuses.

On Christmas Day 1919, Bowman married Robert Pearson and had four children, Norman, Tommy, Doris and Connie. In 1928, Robert Pearson aged 28 had complications of tuberculosis and died. During World War II, she remarried to Frank Bowman and had two children named Sheila (who died in infancy) and Ann.

In 1950, Frank died. In 1953, her father, Thomas Crook died at 74. Eunice looked after her mother Sarah until her death in 1970, at age 92. Until age 84, Bowman worked at a fish and chip shop with her sister Annie, who also reached her 100th birthday. In 2008, a week after her 110th birthday, Bowman re-opened St. Mary's lighthouse, Whitley Bay. This marked the 110th anniversary of both the lighthouse and Bowman's birthday.

She outlived all of her siblings and the majority of her children. All her children from her first marriage are now deceased, the last being Connie who died in February 2010. On the death of Florrie Baldwin, Bowman became the oldest living person in the UK. Her daughter, Ann said that Bowman "always had a very positive attitude and just had simple pleasures. She has always had a nice outlook on life and is always smiling."

At her 111th birthday, Bowman said "I have never drank alcohol or smoked. I have had a happy life" Bowman died on 16 July 2010 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead. She was buried at Heworthburn Cemetery, Gateshead, on 22 July 2010.