{"id":34887,"date":"2025-07-03T09:01:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T09:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/34887\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T09:01:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T09:01:07","slug":"bonita-gibson-113-says-potatoes-and-smiling-are-keys-to-long-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/34887\/","title":{"rendered":"Bonita Gibson, 113, says potatoes and smiling are keys to long life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What\u2019s older than a blender, penicillin, and the U.S. moon landing? A Michigan woman celebrating her 114th birthday on July 4.<\/p>\n<p>Bonita Gibson, a resident at Waltonwood Carriage Park just outside of Detroit, is believed to be the oldest living person in Michigan, according to a Waltonwood representative.<\/p>\n<p>Gibson is part of a small population of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/supercentenarian\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">supercentenarians in the United States<\/a>, or someone who is at least 110 years old.<\/p>\n<p>Other supercentenarians across the country include 114-year-old Naomi Whitehead of Pennsylvania, 114-year-old Mary Harris of Tennessee, and 113-year-old Winnie Felps of Texas, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grg-supercentenarians.org\/world-supercentenarian-rankings-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gerontology Research Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gibson became the oldest known living person in Michigan after the death of 114-year-old Irene Dunham on May 1, 2022. The Gerontology Research Group validated her age the following year on May 4, 2023, two months shy of her 112th birthday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"related-link\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">More on longevity: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/money\/2025\/07\/02\/longevity-tips-for-living-well-better\/84384618007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">I am 96 and the picture of longevity. These are my tips for living longer and better.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Michigan woman flew for the first time at 100 years old<\/p>\n<p>Gibson drove until she was 99 years old, and took her first plane ride at the age of 100, flying to San Diego, a lifelong dream of hers, Waltonwood said.<\/p>\n<p>Gibson told USA TODAY some of the keys to her living such a long life include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Eating potatoes (seemingly a nod to her late husband and the business he worked in)<\/li>\n<li>Healthy eating<\/li>\n<li>Staying positive and always smiling<\/li>\n<li>No smoking or drinking<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Michigan woman survived multiple historical events, spent great deal of her life in Idaho<\/p>\n<p>Gibson was born on July 4, 1911 in a northwestern Kansas city called Hoxie, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grg-supercentenarians.org\/bonita-gibson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gerontology Research Group<\/a>. She grew up in rural Missouri, and lived through the Spanish Flu Pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As a child, she survived the mumps, measles, and whooping cough, said a representative for Waltonwood Carriage Park. Most recently, she survived COVID-19 in 2020, making her one of the oldest known survivors of the disease, according to the research group.<\/p>\n<p>Gibson married Kenneth Gibson, her high school sweetheart, in April 1930 in Oregon, Missouri; the pair married during the Great Depression. The couple lived on a farm at the time.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We had chickens and a huge garden and all kinds of fruit trees,\u201d Gibson told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/detroit\/news\/metro-detroit-woman-recalls-112-years-of-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CBS Detroit<\/a> in July 2023. \u201cWe had plenty to eat. We just didn&#8217;t have any money to spend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They eventually moved to Idaho, where her husband\u2019s relative had a farm. The move is what introduced them to the potato industry.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He said Kenny can help me in the field and you can be the cook,\u201d Gibson told CBS Detroit. \u201cI hadn&#8217;t cooked a thing in my life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>After seven years of marriage, the pair had a son, Kenneth Richard, in January 1937. After that, the couple moved to Newdale, Idaho and later, Idaho Falls as her husband worked as a potato farmer. He later worked as a potato broker until he retired in 1977. He died in 2003.<\/p>\n<p>After decades in Idaho, a move to Michigan<\/p>\n<p>At the age of 102, she began living in a nursing home in Canton, Michigan, where her grandson lives. As her grandson was moving her to Michigan, Gibson had a request for him, Waltonwood Executive Director Angie Hanson told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcknightsseniorliving.com\/news\/michigans-oldest-resident-celebrates-113-years-of-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">McKnight&#8217;s Senior Living<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wanted to ride on the back of his Harley, but he wouldn\u2019t let her,\u201d Hanson said.<\/p>\n<p>Gibson still speaks to her son, 88-year-old Kenneth Richard, every night. She also has three grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n<p>Today, she loves reading and cards, watching \u201cPrice is Right\u201d each day, and catching up with her friends at Waltonwood.<\/p>\n<p>This year, she plans to celebrate her birthday by participating in the downtown Plymouth Fourth of July Parade. There will be a banner announcing her birthday, Waltonwood said.<\/p>\n<p>As Gibson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/detroit\/news\/metro-detroit-woman-recalls-112-years-of-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reflected on her life<\/a> back in 2023, she recalled being married for over 70 years. She and Kenneth made it a point to enjoy themselves, having the most fun in the 1950s and 1960s, she told CBS Detroit.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We would go dancing every Saturday with a group of friends,&#8221; she told the outlet.<\/p>\n<p>When asked what helped to hold their marriage together, she tried to answer from the perspective of her high school sweetheart.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would&#8217;ve taken her back home several times, but we didn&#8217;t have any money, so we had to stay together,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY&#8217;s NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia \u2013 the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What\u2019s older than a blender, penicillin, and the U.S. moon landing? A Michigan woman celebrating her 114th birthday&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":34888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[15328,28889,28883,627,3059,24296,11660,28890,210,13670,28888,19785,425,728,1450,214,938,948,50,940,949,28885,450,1457,1451,28882,700,6358,6360,28884,939,3165,646,67,132,941,68,7580,28887,103,28886],"class_list":{"0":"post-34887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-cbs","9":"tag-cbs-corp","10":"tag-centenarians","11":"tag-corp","12":"tag-county","13":"tag-falls","14":"tag-fun","15":"tag-fun-u0026-trivia","16":"tag-health","17":"tag-idaho","18":"tag-idaho-falls","19":"tag-kansas","20":"tag-local","21":"tag-local-news","22":"tag-mi","23":"tag-michigan","24":"tag-network","25":"tag-network-trending","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-now","28":"tag-now-universal","29":"tag-offbeat","30":"tag-overall","31":"tag-overall-positive","32":"tag-positive","33":"tag-records","34":"tag-retirement","35":"tag-seniors","36":"tag-seniors-u0026-retirement","37":"tag-supercentenarians","38":"tag-trending","39":"tag-trivia","40":"tag-u0026","41":"tag-united-states","42":"tag-unitedstates","43":"tag-universal","44":"tag-us","45":"tag-wayne","46":"tag-wayne-county","47":"tag-world","48":"tag-world-records"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}