Edna Parker

Edna Parker
Edna Parker in 2007 at age 114
Born	Edna Ruth Scott April 20, 1893 Morgan County, Indiana, United States
Died	November 26, 2008 (aged 115 years 220 days) Shelbyville, Indiana, United States
Resting place	Shelbyville's Miller Cemetery
Education	Franklin College
Occupation	Former teacher
Known for	Oldest recognized person in the world, from August 13, 2007 to November 26, 2008
Spouse(s)	Earl Parker (lived: 1884–1939, married: 1913–1939) {deceased}
Children	Clifford (1913–1998) Earl Jr. (1919–1985)
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Edna Ruth Parker (née Scott) (April 20, 1893 – November 26, 2008) was an American supercentenarian and, until her death, was recognized as the oldest person in the world following the death of Yone Minagawa of Japan on August 13, 2007. Parker became Indiana's oldest living person on April 7, 2005 (age 111 years 352 days) (following the death of then almost-112-year-old Minnie Kearby, who was just 6 days older at the time) and the state's all-time recordholder on January 19, 2007 (age 113 years 274 days), surpassing Mary Parr. She became the oldest living American on February 14, 2007 (age 113 years 300 days), following the death of then fellow 113-year-old Corinne Dixon Taylor of Washington, D.C. Parker was the 20th verified, undisputed supercentenarian to reach the age of 115. At the time of her death, Parker was listed as the 11th longest lived person ever.

Parker was born in 1893, on a farm in Shelby County, Indiana, near Bengal in Hendricks township and raised eating a typical farm diet of meat and starch. She attended Franklin High School, then took classes at Franklin College to obtain a teaching certificate. Parker taught at a two-room schoolhouse in Smithland for several years, until she married her next door neighbor, Earl Parker, on April 12, 1913. Earl died on February 23, 1939. They had two sons, Clifford and Earl Jr., both of whom she outlived. As of April 2008, she had five grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren and thirteen great-great-grandchildren. Her two sisters also are deceased; Georgia lived to be 99, while her sister Opal died at age 88.

Parker lived alone on a farm on Blueridge Road after her husband had died when she was 45. She remained there until 1993, aged 100 when, still in very strong health, she moved in with her oldest son Clifford. One winter night, she was left alone while Clifford and his wife went to a basketball game. When they returned, she was in the back yard, unconscious, in the snow, and visible in the poor light only because she was wearing her favorite red sweater. Her family feared her death, but medics arrived and she made a full recovery except for only mild injuries. Afterwards it was decided that she needed to move to a nursing home.