Thelma Sutcliffe

	United States' Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E)
	Clarida Roy • Mary Bittlebrun • Sophia DeMuth • Fannie Thomas • Nellie Spencer • Emma Wilson • Augusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Florence Knapp • Orpha Nusbaum • Delphia Welford • Margaret Skeete • Wilhelmina Kott • Georgia Ella Jordan • Sarah Knauss • Myrtle Dorsey • Maud Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Mary Christian • Elena Slough • Charlotte Benkner • Emma Verona Johnston • Elizabeth Bolden • Emma Tillman • Corinne Dixon Taylor • Edna Parker • Gertrude Baines • Mary Josephine Ray • Neva Morris • Eunice Sanborn • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Goldie Michelson • Adele Dunlap • Delphine Gibson • Ophelia Burks • Lessie Brown • Alelia Murphy • Hester Ford • Thelma Sutcliffe • Bessie Hendricks • Edie Ceccarelli • Elizabeth Francis

	Thelma Sutcliffe
	; Sutcliffe at the age of 113 in 2019
	Validated

Thelma Sutcliffe (née Liesche; born 1 October 1906) is an American supercentenarian who holds the record as the oldest person ever documented from the U.S. state of Nebraska. Sutcliffe is currently the oldest person living in the United States whose age is validated and is the last known American born in 1906 whose age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

Biography

Thelma Sutcliffe was born in Benson, Omaha, Nebraska, on 1 October 1906 to August and Maude (née Adams) Liesche. On 3 September 1924, at the age of 17, she married Bill Sutcliffe in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The couple had no children, and were married until Bill died in the early 1970s. Sutcliffe has survived two bouts of breast cancer over the course of her life.

At the time of her 110th birthday in 2016, Sutcliffe lived in a residential apartment in Omaha, Nebraska. She reportedly exercised every morning, did her own laundry, and played bridge several times a week. In 2017, Sutcliffe moved in to an assisted living facility in Omaha. She celebrated her 114th birthday in October 2020. Sutcliffe's sister, Marie Kelso (1904-2011), lived to the age of 106.

In April 2021, she was reported to have lost most of her sight and some of her hearing, but otherwise was 'very sharp'.

Longevity Records

At the time of her 110th birthday in 2016, Sutcliffe was the oldest known person living in Nebraska. Following the death of Minnie Whicker on 22 October 2020, Sutcliffe entered the top ten oldest validated living people in the world. Following the death of Beulah Meloche five days later, she became last remaining validated American born in 1906. Following the death of Hester Ford on 17 April, 2021, Sutcliffe became the oldest validated living person in the whole of the United States.

On 14 April 2020, Sutcliffe became Nebraska's all-time longevity record-holder after surpassing the previous record of 113 years, 195 days set by Helen Stetter. Additionally, upon reaching the age of 113 years, 328 days on 24 August 2020, Sutcliffe became the oldest person ever born in Nebraska, surpassing the age of Clara Huhn.

Sutcliffe's sister, Marie Kelso (12 June 1904 – 8 March 2011), lived to the age of 106 years, 269 days. With a combined age of 224 years, 104 days, the sisters are one of the oldest pair of siblings ever recorded.