| Mabel Mah | |
 Mabel Mah on her 111th birthday in 2021. | |
| Birth: | 4 July 1910 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada |
| Death: | 30 January 2024 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Age: | 113 years, 210 days |
| Country: |  CAN
|
| Validated | |
Mabel Mah (née Lee; 4 July 1910 – 30 January 2024) was a Canadian supercentenarian whose age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). She was the oldest living person in Canada from the death of 113-year-old Shige Mineshiba on 6 January 2023 until her own death just over a year later.
Biography
Mabel Mah was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on 4 July 1910 as the third child and eldest daughter of Chinese immigrants Ernest and Kate (née Chan) Lee. She had 13 siblings. Her sister Ruth (1916-2020) lived to be 104, her sister Esther (1913-2018) lived to be 105. As a child, she was always invited to play baseball with the boys because she was the best batter, and she was also an amazing sprinter.
She married Sunny Mah and had six children; Her husband died in 1953 and she never remarried. At some point in her life, she moved to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Mah has appeared in a National Film Board documentary "The Chan Legacy", a CBC television performance special, and a CBC TV documentary about her grandfather and family descendant history.
In her nineties, she won a provincial award for a large complex Chinese knotting project she made. Shortly before turning 100, she took a trip to Toronto to celebrate her birthday. At the time of her 100th birthday, she was still living independently.
She has been described as 'dignified, elegant and stylish' and having 'exuded warmth with her genuine smile and welcoming acceptance'. Her mantra was "go with the flow". At the age of 105, when asked what she would like to pass on to future generations she replied, ‘Do unto others as you want them to do to you. That would be the best.’
Following the death of 113-year-old Shige Mineshiba, also of Vancouver, on 6 January 2023, Mah became the oldest living person in British Columbia and Canada.
Her age was verified by Robert Young, Oliver Trim, Waclaw Jan Kroczek and Jeffrey Xu, and validated by the GRG on 16 April 2023.
Mabel Mah died at St. Vincent's Langara Care Home in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 30 January 2024 at the age of 113 years, 210 days. She was survived by five of her six children, along with 16 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great grandchildren.
At the time of her death, she was the tenth-oldest person ever to reside in Canada, the third-oldest person ever to reside in British Columbia, the seventh-oldest Canadian-born person and the oldest person ever born in British Columbia. She is also the oldest verified person of Chinese descent, and for the last few days of her life she was the last remaining validated person born in July 1910.
Following her death, 112-year-old Helen Doan of Toronto, Ontario became the oldest person in Canada, and 111-year-old Linda Yale became the oldest person in British Columbia.
Gallery
References
- GRG World Supercentenarians Rankings List Gerontology Research Group
- Mabel Mah Gerontology Research Group
- Mabel Lee Mah FamilySearch
- Photograph of twelve children of Kate and Ernest Lee University of British Columbia
- Happy 100th Birthday Granny! JoniMar.com, 4 July 2010 (Archived)
- Rev. Chan Legacy Project Gung Haggis Fat Choy, 6 February 2012
- Mabel Mah Dignity Memorial, 30 January 2024
| Canada's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E) |
|
Flore Beland • Emma Bingham • Herman Smith-Johannsen • Agnes Munce • Nellie Thompson • Alice Sjoquist • Lillian Ross • Marie-Louise Meilleur • Marie-Louise Meunier • Maria Mallozzi • Zelda McCague • Fanny Martland • Evangeline Saulnier • Anne Samson • Julie Winnefred Bertrand • Jennie Fitzgerald • Margaret Fitzgerald • Pearl Lutzko • Cora Hansen • Yvonne Lamoureux • Merle Barwis • Colombe Benoit-Leclerc • Orma Slack • Marguerite Wabano • Lilian Cornell • Ellen Gibb • Sarah Patenaude-Bruyere • Phyllis Ridgway • Cecile Klein • Shige Mineshiba • Mabel Mah • Helen Doan • Gertruda Gorecka • Hazel Skuce |