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Potatoes and a smile are the secret to a long life, woman says before 114th birthday

Potatoes and a smile are the secret to a long life, woman says before 114th birthday

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  • Potatoes and a smile are the secret to a long life, woman says before 114th birthday</p>

<p>Saleen Martin, USA TODAY July 2, 2025 at 8:50 PM</p>

<p>What's older than a blender, penicillin, and the U.S. moon landing? A Michigan woman celebrating her 114th birthday on July 4.</p>

<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>

<p>Gibson is part of a small population of supercentenarians in the United States, or someone who is at least 110 years old.</p>

<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 Gerontology Research Group.</p>

<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>

<p>Bonita Gibson at her 113th birthday party on July 4, 2024.</p>

<p>More on longevity: I am 96 and the picture of longevity. These are my tips for living longer and better.</p>

<p>Michigan woman flew for the first time at 100 years old</p>

<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>

<p>Gibson told USA TODAY some of the keys to her living such a long life include:</p>

<p>Eating potatoes (seemingly a nod to her late husband and the business he worked in)</p>

<p>Healthy eating</p>

<p>Staying positive and always smiling</p>

<p>No smoking or drinking</p>

<p>Michigan woman survived multiple historical events, spent great deal of her life in Idaho</p>

<p>Gibson was born on July 4, 1911 in a northwestern Kansas city called Hoxie, according to the Gerontology Research Group. She grew up in rural Missouri, and lived through the Spanish Flu Pandemic.</p>

<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>

<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>

<p>"We had chickens and a huge garden and all kinds of fruit trees," Gibson told CBS Detroit in July 2023. "We had plenty to eat. We just didn't have any money to spend."</p>

<p>They eventually moved to Idaho, where her husband's relative had a farm. The move is what introduced them to the potato industry.</p>

<p>"He said Kenny can help me in the field and you can be the cook," Gibson told CBS Detroit. "I hadn't cooked a thing in my life."</p>

<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>

<p>After decades in Idaho, a move to Michigan</p>

<p>At the age of 102, she began living in a senior living community 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 McKnight's Senior Living.</p>

<p>"She wanted to ride on the back of his Harley, but he wouldn't let her," Hanson said.</p>

<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-great-grandchildren.</p>

<p>Today, she loves reading and cards, watching "Price is Right" each day, and catching up with her friends at Waltonwood.</p>

<p>Bonita Gibson at her 113th birthday party on July 4, 2024.</p>

<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>

<p>As Gibson reflected on her life 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>

<p>"We would go dancing every Saturday with a group of friends," she told the outlet.</p>

<p>When asked what helped to hold their marriage together, she tried to answer from the perspective of her high school sweetheart.</p>

<p>"I would've taken her back home several times, but we didn't have any money, so we had to stay together," she said.</p>

<p>This story has been to correct the number of grandchildren Bonita Gibson has, and to correct an inaccuracy about the facility she lives in.</p>

<p>Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at [email protected].</p>

<p>This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bonita Gibson, 113, says potatoes and smiling are keys to long life</p>

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