Emma Fanchon Faust Tillman (née Faust; November 22, 1892 – January 28, 2007) was the world's oldest living person for four days in late January 2007.[1] She holds the record for the shortest period spent as the world's oldest person.[2]
Life
Emma Tillmann was born to sharecroppers in Sedalia, North Carolina on November 22, 1892, being one of 23 children and one of 15 children to live to adulthood.[1][3] She moved to Connecticut together with her family in 1900 and was a member of her local church (the Metropolitan AME Zion Church in Hartford, Connecticut) since 1915, for a whopping 91 years in total.[1] Tillman was the President of the Chancel Choir for 15 years and the church Secretary for 13 years.[1] Since she could not find a job as a regular secretary due to discrimination, she had a career in catering, including baking cakes for both Katharine Hepburn's father and Jackie Robinson.[3] Tillman's husband died in 1939, before the United States's entry into World War II, and she also outlived one of her two daughters.[3] However, all of her Emma Tillman's siblings who moved to the Northern United States with her in 1900 ended up living beyond the age of 100.[3]
Tillman died on January 28, 2007 and was survived by her 80-year-old daughter Marjorie and also by many other younger descendants of hers.[3] She was the last remaining undisputed person born in 1892.[2] She was succeeded as the world's oldest living person by 114-year-old Japanese woman Yone Minagawa.[3]
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References