Rachel Hargrave

Rachel Hargrave (née Stewart; 15 June 1903 - 22 June 2014) was an American journalist and radio show host who became noted for her longevity towards the end of her life. She died at the claimed age of 111 years, 7 days, but is currently unverified by Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

Biography
She was born in South Dakota to parents Archibald and Emma Stewart. They were ministers, although Rachel herself would eventually become an atheist. As a teenager, she relocated to Illinois. Her journalistic career began in the early 1940s in Minnesota. She worked for the Duluth-based newspaper Duluth Herald and News Tribune.

In the 1950s, Rachel hosted a political radio program in Washington D.C. called Inside Government. One of her interviewees was John Steinbeck (noted author of the novels Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath, among others).

She moved to New York in 1956, where she understated her age in order to get employed by Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE). She ended up working there for over 25 years.

She was married a few times, of which one was with the University professor Roger Hargrave.

On her 100th birthday in 2003, she celebrated the occasion by riding a hot-air balloon. She has attributed her longevity to "sex, vodka and spicy food".

Rachel Hargrave passed away on 22 June 2014 at the claimed age of 111 years, 7 days.