The oldest living American – a woman whose life was marked by a strong Christian faith – died peacefully in her sleep over the weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Hester Ford had celebrated her 116th birthday last August. During that special celebration, Ford summed up her life’s goal saying, “I’m living for the Lord.”
Besides living a long and fulfilling life, she experienced a historic century and two pandemics.
Ford was 14-years-old when she married her husband John, who died in 1963. She had 12 children, 68 grandchildren, 125 great-grandchildren, and 120 great-great-grandchildren, the Charlotte Observer reports.
“She was a pillar and stalwart to our family and provided much needed love, support and understanding to us all,” family shared on a Facebook post. “She was the seed that sprouted leaves and branches which is now our family. God saw fit to make her the matriarch of our family and blessed us to be her caretakers and recipients of her legacy.”