| Kristine Brown | |
 Kristine Brown on her 108th birthday in 2005. | |
| Birth: | 8 September 1897 Bates County, Missouri, USA |
| Death: | 19 December 2007 Alva, Oklahoma, USA |
| Age: | 110 years, 102 days |
| Country: |  USA
|
| Validated | |
Kristine Brown (née Klostermyer; 8 September 1897 – 19 December 2007) was an American supercentenarian whose age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). At the time of her death, she was the oldest known person living in the U.S. state of Oklahoma.
Biography[]
Kristine Brown was born in Bates County, Missouri, USA, on 8 September 1897. In 1898, she moved with her family to the Cherokee Strip, near Perry, Oklahoma, USA, to settle on territory her uncle had claimed during a land rush.
Brown studied mathematics at Columbia University and became a teacher, teaching students in a one-room schoolhouse before becoming a professor at Northwestern Oklahoma University. She was drawn to the subject because math is "either right or wrong." Her mother taught English and believed Brown would, too, but Brown said "all that diagramming and lots of writing ... was not for me." She taught into her 60s and was named Teacher of the Year in 1962 by the Oklahoma Education Association, which described her as "quiet, even-tempered," and possessing "outstanding intellectual integrity." She never had any children of her own, however, and outlived many of her relatives and even some of her students.
Brown enjoyed sightseeing throughout her life, traveling the USA from California to New Jersey and visiting historical sites internationally, such as the Mayan ruins and Middle Eastern landmarks.
Though Brown's vision, hearing, and memory were failing towards the end of her life, her mind remained alert and her spirit strong. Speaking of what she had learned over the course of her life, she first referred to her personal possessions. She said, "I've saved things all my life. It's hard for me to realize—in fact, I didn't realize—that I don't need any of this stuff." Instead, she realized "friendships are more important than anything else. I've learned that that is the truth."
One of Brown's students, Ronald Meyer, developed a close friendship with Brown after he returned from service in the Korean War to become a teacher at Northwestern Oklahoma University, where Brown was still teaching at the time. As Brown had no children, Meyer was like a relative to her, and she granted him power of attorney before her death.
Brown lived independently until her centenarian years, eventually moving to a nursing home in Alva, Oklahoma. Though she was grateful for the care and accommodations of the nursing home, she longed for the comfort of her old house: "I do long for the good old days and having a house and a living room and a kitchen. It's a little hard to think of a bedroom as being home." About her longevity, Brown remarked, "I don't think it's so wonderful to live over 100. Oh, I surely do not."
Kristine Brown died on 19 December 2007, in her Alva nursing home, at the age of 110 years, 102 days. Ronald Meyer, her former student and close friend, held a small, private ceremony in her honor.
Gallery[]
References[]
- Kristine Brown GRG Gallery
- Deaths for 2007 (in Chronological Order) Gerontology Research Group
- State's oldest resident dies at 110 The Oklahoman, 20 December 2007 (Archived)
- State's oldest woman dies at 110; second oldest 109 years old The Ada News, 21 December 2007 (Archived)
- Lessons From Long Lives 405 Magazine, 5 June 2017 (Archived)