| Sarah Harper | |
 Sarah Harper on her 109th birthday. | |
| Birth: | 24 August 1906 Manitoba, Canada |
| Death: | 16 December 2017 Oxford House, Manitoba, Canada |
| Age: | 111 years, 114 days |
| Country: |  CAN
|
| Validated | |
Sarah Harper (c.1910 – 16 December 2017) was a Canadian supercentenarian claimant whose age has been validated, and later debunked, by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). She was believed to be the oldest known living Native Canadian in Canada since the death of 111-year-old Marguerite Wabano on 13 November 2015 until her own death two years later.
Biography
Sarah Harper was born in 1910 (claimed 24 August 1906) in a forest in the region which later will become North Manitoba, Canada. She later married John Harper and had six children with him, four sons and two daughters. The family settled in Island Lake, Manitoba, Canada. John Harper passed away on 10 July 1972, leaving Sarah a widow.
As Harper got older, she had many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so many that her family can't count them. On her claimed 106th birthday in 2012, she was thanked by Grand Chief Derek Nepinak for her services to the community. On her claimed 109th birthday in 2015, a group of schoolgirls gave her a bouquet of flowers and wished her a happy birthday.
Also on her 109th birthday, she was asked the secret to her long life. Sarah told a story about when she was young, she approached an old woman who was blind and couldn't walk. The woman asked Sarah to fetch her some water, which she did. The old woman told Sarah that because of what she’d done, she would be blessed with a long life. On her claimed 110th birthday in 2016, she celebrated with her friends and family.
Harper died on 16 December 2017 in Oxford House, Manitoba, Canada, at the age of 107 (claimed 111 years, 114 days).
References
- Validated Supercentenarians in Canada GRG
- Oxford House woman turns 106 Thompson Citizen, 31 August 2012
- Oxford House woman — who may be Manitoba's oldest citizen — celebrates 109th birthday Winnipeg Free Press, 24 August 2015
- Happy Birthday Elder Sarah Harper. Twitter
- Bunibonibee Cree Nation's Sarah Harper turns 111 CBC News, 24 August 2017
- Manitoba Cree elder Sarah Harper dies at 111 CBC News, 17 December 2017