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Merle Barwis
Merle Barwis
Merle Barwis on her 111th birthday in 2011
Birth: 23 December 1900
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
Death: 22 November 2014
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Age: 113 years, 334 days
Country: United StatesUSACanadaCAN
Validated

Merle Emmeline Barwis (née Stedwell) (23 December 1900 – 22 November 2014) was an American-Canadian supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in Canada from the death of 113-year-old Cora Hansen on 18 April 2012, until her own death 2 years and 7 months later. She was also the last surviving Canadian born in the 19th century. Her age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

Biography

Merle Barwis was born in Des Moines, Iowa, United States on 23 December 1900. A few years later, her family moved to Saskatchewan, Canada. She married Dewey Barwis in 1923 and had three children. Her husband worked in the Canadian Pacific railway. In 1952, her husband having retired, her family moved to Victoria, British Columbia. Her husband died in 1966.

She outlived her two sons and two of her 10 grandchildren. At the time of her death, she had 17 great-grandchildren.

She became the oldest living person in Canada from the death of 113-year-old Cora Hansen on 18 April 2012.

Merle Barwis died in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on 22 November 2014 at the age of 113 years, 334 days. At the time of her death she was the fourth-longest lived person ever in Canada and the oldest person ever to live in British Columbia.

Gallery

References


Canada's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Flore BelandEmma BinghamHerman Smith-JohannsenAgnes MunceNellie ThompsonAlice Sjoquist • Lillian RossMarie-Louise Meilleur • Marie-Louise Meunier • Maria Mallozzi • Zelda McCague • Fanny Martland • Evangeline SaulnierAnne Samson • Julie Winnefred Bertrand • Jennie Fitzgerald • Margaret Fitzgerald • Pearl LutzkoCora Hansen • Yvonne Lamoureux • Merle Barwis • Colombe Benoit-Leclerc • Orma Slack • Marguerite Wabano • Lilian Cornell • Ellen Gibb • Sarah Patenaude-Bruyere • Phyllis Ridgway • Cecile Klein • Shige Mineshiba • Mabel MahHelen Doan

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