The long journey home: Second-oldest American returns to the Gem State to be laid to rest
Seth Ratliff
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — One of the oldest women in the world is making one final journey back to Idaho, where she’ll be laid to rest.
Bonita Gibson, who passed away in Canton, Michigan, on March 10 at the remarkable age of 114, is returning to the state where her family tilled the earth and farmed potatoes for over three decades. At the time of her passing, Gibson was the oldest living person in Michigan, the second-oldest in the United States, and the seventh-oldest person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group.
Witness to a Century
Long before she became a supercentenarian, Bonita lived through some of the pivotal moments of American history.
She was born on July 4, 1911, to John Franklin and Ella Mabel Spear, 6 years before the United States entered the First World War. In April 1930, she married Kenneth Gibson in Oregon, Missouri. Two years later, at the height of the Great Depression, the young couple migrated west to the Gem State to join Kenneth’s uncle in the wheat business.
Eventually, the couple settled in Newdale, where Kenneth transitioned into the potato industry. Following the end of World War II in 1946, the Gibsons moved to Idaho Falls. Bonita remained a fixture of the community until Kenneth’s passing in October 2003, after 72 years of marriage, according to her obituary.
The Secret to 114 Years
Bonita’s deep connection to Idaho went beyond her 70+ years living in the Gem State; Up until she was 109 bonita would keep a fridge bottom drawer full of Idaho potatoes for cooking in her retirement home apartment, reports WXYZ-TV in Michigan.
Last summer, the Idaho Potato Commission helped her celebrate her milestone birthday in style, driving the famous 72-foot fiberglass “Great Big Idaho Potato” to her retirement home in Michigan.
Courtesy, WXYZ-TV
While she spent her final years in the Midwest, Bonita’s final resting place will be at Fielding Memorial Park Cemetery in Idaho Falls.