Opal Goode

Cora Opal Goode (née Griggs) (born 3 June 1907) is an American supercentenarian whose age is currently unvalidated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). She is one of the oldest known living people in California, USA.

Biography
Opal Goode was born Cora Opal Griggs on 3 June 1907 in Oklahoma, USA to parents James Cleveland Griggs (1885-1951) and Mary Elizabeth (née Bowen) Griggs (1888-1965). The family moved to Texas via covered wagon when Opal was an infant, but a few years later, they returned to Oklahoma. Her father worked in the oil fields.

Among the things she remembers from her childhood are seeing the first Model-T cars, seeing a woman driving a car for the first time and seeing a car that wasn't black. She also remembers World War 1, especially when it ended. Opal wanted to attend the celebrations, but her father didn't let her because he thought that all the excitement would be too much for an 11-year-old girl to handle.

Opal was the valedictorian of her senior class in high school on 13 May 1926. Several years later, she married Henry Goode and had a daughter, Cheryl, with him. They eventually settled in Ridgecrest, California in early 1945, where Henry spent the remainder of World War 2 working at China Lake. Opal worked at Ridgecrest's first bank, which opened in 1946.

Opal had originally agreed to work at the bank until Christmas 1946, but ended up working there for around 24 years, until she retired in 1970. Her husband Henry died in 1976 aged 73, after over 30 years of marriage. Since then, Opal has enjoyed spending time with her friends and family. She lived on her own until she was 105. Her secret to a long life is "hard work and clean living."

Opal Goode currently lives in Ridgecrest, California, USA, at the age of.