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Sarah Knauss
Sarah Knauss
Knauss at the age of 115.
Birth: 24 September 1880
Hollywood, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, USA
Death: 30 December 1999
Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA
Age: 119 years, 97 days
Country: United StatesUSA
Validated

Sarah DeRemer Knauss (née Clark; 24 September 1880 – 30 December 1999) was a validated American supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in the world from the death of Marie-Louise Meilleur on 16 April 1998 until her own death on 30 December 1999 at the age of 119 years, 97 days. She is the third-oldest validated person in history, behind only Kane Tanaka and Jeanne Calment.

Biography

Sarah DeRemer Clark was born in Hollywood, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, USA, a "mining patch" community that no longer exists, at a time when the now-famous Hollywood, California did not yet exist. She lived much of her life in Allentown, where she brought up her daughter Kathryn Sullivan (17 November 1903 – 21 January 2005).

There was also a history of longevity in her family: her paternal grandmother lived to the age of 98, and her cousin Minnie Kresge (2 October 1893 – 24 February 1999) lived to the age of 105. In addition, her daughter Kathryn Sullivan lived to the age of 101.

She married Abraham Lincoln Knauss in 1901. Their only child was Kathryn Sullivan.

Knauss lived with her daughter from the age of 96 and moved into a nursing home at the age of 111. At the age of 118, Knauss was still able to have a conversation with her daughter, but in the last six months of her life, she did not respond to conversations.

Knauss died rather abruptly while sitting in her chair on 3:00 p.m. of 30 December 1999, caused by natural causes. She died 33 hours before the millennium year 2000, and was survived by five generations of descendants. Some of her organs were bequeathed to the New England Centenarian Study, which did an autopsy.

Longevity Records

Knauss became the last living American born in the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes after the death of Wilhelmina Kott on 6 September 1994.

Knauss's longevity first came to light after the death of Jeanne Calment in 1997, when she and Marie-Louise Meilleur were first authenticated (previously, Mary Bidwell (19 May 1881 – 25 April 1996) had been believed to be the oldest American).

Knauss was the eighth validated person to reach the age of 115, the fifth to reach 116, the fourth to reach 117, and the second to reach 118 and 119. She is also the third-oldest validated person ever, after Jeanne Calment of France and Kane Tanaka of Japan.

Until December 2020, Knauss was thought to have been one of only three validated American supercentenarians to have reached the age of 117 until Lucy Hannah's age would end up being debunked, meaning that Knauss was one of only two validated supercentenarians (the other being Delphia Welford) in the history of the United States to reach the age of 117.

Knauss was the oldest validated person ever to achieve the title of world's oldest living person, having achieved the title at the age of 117 years, 204 days on 16 April 1998, following the death of 117-year-old Marie-Louise Meilleur, until Lucile Randon achieved the title at the age of 118 years, 67 days on 19 April 2022, following the death of 119-year-old Kane Tanaka.

Knauss remains one of only two people from the United States to reach the age of 117, the only person from the United States to reach the ages of 118 and 119, one of only three people from North America to reach the age of 117 (the others being Delphia Welford and Marie-Louise Meilleur), one of only four people to reach the age of 118 (the others being Jeanne Calment, Kane Tanaka, and Lucile Randon), and one of only three people to reach the age of 119 (the others being Jeanne Calment and Kane Tanaka).

Knauss remained the second-oldest validated person ever until Kane Tanaka surpassed her on 10 April 2022, but she died nine days later.

Gallery

References

World's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Betsy BakerJennie HowellMarie CarstensonNancy RyanChristina Karnebeek-Backs • Marie Olsen • Mary Kelly • Elizabeth Kensley • William Fullingim • Hannah Smith • John Mosley Turner • Johanna Booysen • Marie Bernatkova • Ada Roe • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Elizabeth Watkins • Mito Umeta • Niwa Kawamoto • Sophia DeMuth • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Fannie Thomas • Augustine Tessier • Nellie Spencer • Emma WilsonAugusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Anna Eliza Williams • Florence Knapp • Jeanne Calment • Marie-Louise Meilleur • Sarah Knauss • Eva Morris • Marie Bremont • Maud Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Yukichi Chuganji • Mitoyo Kawate • Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan • Maria Capovilla • Elizabeth Bolden • Emiliano Mercado del Toro • Emma Tillman • Yone Minagawa • Edna Parker • Maria de Jesus • Gertrude Baines • Kama Chinen • Eugenie Blanchard • Maria Gomes Valentim • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Jiroemon Kimura • Misao Okawa • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Emma Morano • Violet BrownNabi Tajima • Chiyo MiyakoKane TanakaLucile RandonMaria Branyas Morera


World's Oldest Living Woman Titleholders (VE)

Betsy BakerJennie HowellMarie CarstensonNancy RyanChristina Karnebeek-Backs • Marie Olsen • Mary Kelly • Elizabeth Kensley • Auguste Pahl • Hannah Smith • Yoshigiku Ito • Johanna Booysen • Marie Bernatkova • Ada Roe • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Elizabeth Watkins • Mito Umeta • Niwa Kawamoto • Sophia DeMuth • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Fannie Thomas • Augustine Tessier • Nellie Spencer • Emma Wilson • Augusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Anna Eliza Williams • Florence Knapp • Jeanne Calment • Marie-Louise Meilleur • Sarah Knauss • Eva Morris • Marie Bremont • Maud Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Mitoyo Kawate • Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan • Maria Capovilla • Elizabeth Bolden • Julie Winnefred Bertrand • Emma Tillman • Yone Minagawa • Edna Parker • Maria de Jesus • Gertrude Baines • Kama Chinen • Eugenie Blanchard • Maria Gomes Valentim • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Koto Okubo • Misao Okawa • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Emma Morano • Violet Brown • Nabi Tajima • Chiyo MiyakoKane TanakaLucile RandonMaria Branyas Morera


United States' Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Clarida RoyMary BittlebrunSophia DeMuthFannie ThomasNellie Spencer • Emma WilsonAugusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Florence Knapp • Orpha NusbaumDelphia WelfordMargaret SkeeteWilhelmina Kott • Georgia Ella JordanSarah Knauss • Myrtle Dorsey • Maud Farris-LuseGrace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Mary Christian • Elena Slough • Charlotte Benkner • Emma Verona Johnston • Elizabeth Bolden • Emma TillmanCorinne 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 DunlapDelphine GibsonOphelia BurksLessie BrownAlelia MurphyHester FordThelma SutcliffeBessie HendricksEdie CeccarelliElizabeth Francis

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