| Linda Wiggins | |
 Linda Wiggins at the age of 109. | |
| Birth: | 17 September 1908 Auckland, New Zealand |
| Death: | 2 December 2018 Stratford, New Zealand |
| Age: | 110 years, 76 days |
| Country: |  NZL
|
| Validated | |
Linda Pearl Wiggins (née Churches; 17 September 1908 – 2 December 2018) was a validated New Zealand supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in Oceania at the time of her death.
Biography[]
Linda Wiggins was born on 17 September 1908 at St Helen's Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. She was the oldest of nine children born to Thomas Edwin Churches (1883–1975) and Annie May Churches (1889–1969). She had one brother, Kenneth Percival Churches (1910–1980).
In 1929, she married Fred Wiggins in Dargaville. The couple had five children and worked as farmers in Dargaville, Kirikopuni and Oramahoe before retiring to Rotorua and later Te Puke, where Fred died in 1976. She survived cancer at the age of 60.
After death of her husband, she moved to Mt. Maunganui and spent 27 years there before she moved to Stratford at the age of 99. On her 110th birthday, she had 19 grandchildren, 50 great-grandchildren and 49 great-great-grandchildren.
In her later years, Wiggins lived in Marire Rest Home, Stratford, New Zealand. She became the oldest known person in New Zealand following the death of Madeline Anderson on 19 June 2018, and the oldest known person in Oceania following the death of Margaret Vivian on 20 September 2018.
Linda Wiggins died on 2 December 2018 at the age of 110 years, 76 days. Following her death, Mabel Jenkins became the oldest living person in New Zealand and Oceania.
Refrences[]
- 2019 validations Gerontology Research Group
- Linda Pearl Wiggins (Churches) Geni
- Farm life is the secret NZ Herald, 25 September 2013
- Kiwi woman celebrates 108th birthday Newshub, 17 September 2016
- Turning 109, Linda Wiggins had three parties to celebrate the milestone Stuff.co.nz, 19 September 2017
- The country's oldest known living person turns 110 Taranaki Daily News, 16 September 2018
- Linda Wiggins celebrates 110th birthday at Stratford resthome NZ Herald, 18 September 2018
- Obituary
| New Zealand's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E) |
|
Lavinia Baskerville • Helen Dixon • Mary Luplau • Flora Barton • Alexander Hughes • Agnes Wilson • Lillian Blyth • Ethel Pearson • Mary Cartwright • Caroline Turner-Williams • Parewahawaha Ranginui Leonard • Florence Sedcole • Edith Robison • Jessie Little • Mary Bromley • Lillian Hickmott • Arthur Bates • Ethel Keen • Jean Tillie • William Swensson • Charles Campbell • Mary Doyle • William Buttler Hayes • Bertha Cole • Laura White • Ethel Booth • Mabel Wachner • Florence Finch • Irene Morgan • Ruby Billings • Inez Newton • Doris Mackintosh • Lena Ray • Maudie Wilson • Peg Griffin • Olive Oldfield • Madeline Anderson • Linda Wiggins • Mabel Jenkins • Lola de la Haye • Moy Kim Ng • Nina Brown • Ronald Hermanns • Joan Brennan • Aileen Kars |