| Velma Hinds | |
 Hinds on her 111th birthday in 2021 | |
| Birth: | 22 October 1910 Webb City, Missouri, USA |
| Death: | 8 June 2023 Macon, Missouri, USA |
| Age: | 112 years, 229 days |
| Country: |  USA
|
| Validated | |
Velma Hinds (née Woods; 22 October 1910 – 8 June 2023) 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 living person in the U.S. state of Missouri.
Biography
Velma Hinds was born as Velma Woods in Webb City, Missouri, USA on 22 October 1910. Her parents were Frank Woods and Cora (née Weaver) Woods. She had 13 siblings. She married William Hinds in Miami, Oklahoma, USA on 2 February 1935. The couple had two daughters: Clerenda Sue (born c.1937) and Carol Jane (born c.1940).
Hinds had been an active member of the Church of God Holiness of Macon and helped teach Sunday school throughout the years. She first started working at the Miami hotel as an elevator operator and then was promoted to a server. She then worked various jobs including housekeeping, a matron at a girl's dorm in Mount Zion and Kirksville, Missouri and a seamstress at factories, including making Danny Dare and Debbie Dare children jackets in Mission, Kansas. Hinds was a wonderful seamstress and often made beautiful dresses and attire for special occasions. She enjoyed reading, sewing, baking pies, and caring and entertaining for her family, especially her grandchildren. Her secret to longevity was milk, laughter, kindness, more milk, and her love of Jesus. On her 111th birthday in 2021, the Mayor of Macon James "Talt" Holman declared 22 October to be "Velma Hinds Day". As of October 2021, she had eight grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.
There was also a history of longevity in Hinds's family: her mother lived to be 99, her sister Edith Smith (1901–1995) lived to be 93, Edith's twin sister Ethel Scoles (1901–2003) lived to be 101, and her brothers: Walter Woods (1915–2017) and Lester Woods (1918–2020) both lived to be 101.
Hinds died at the Samaritan Memorial Hospital in Macon, Missouri, USA on 8 June 2023 at the age of 112 years, 229 days. She lived in the same nursing home as Naomi Curtright, who died in 2019 at the age of 110.
Recognition
Hinds became the oldest known living person in Missouri following the death of 113-year-old Rachel Kohl on 17 November 2022.
Hinds's age was verified by Waclaw Jan Kroczek and Susan Vankeirsbilck, and validated by the GRG on 13 April 2023.
At the time of her death, Hinds was the seventh-oldest living person in the United States whose age has been validated by the GRG.
Gallery
References
- Velma Hinds Gerontology Research Group
- Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in the year 1910 Gerontology Research Group
- Cora Ida Woods Find a Grave
- Edith Ellen Smith 1901-1995 Obituary The Tri-State Tribune (Newspapers), 26 January 1995
- Ethel Woods Scoles Obituary GenLookups, 23 January 2003
- 30th Annual Woods Reunion Johnstown Albertsons, 28 June 2011
- Walter Woods Obituary Dignity Memorial, 16 June 2017
- Happy Velma Hinds Day! Loch Haven Senior Living Community (Facebook), 22 October 2021
- Macon woman turning 112 years old Saturday KHQA, 21 October 2022
- Velma Hinds Greening-Eagan-Hayes Funeral Home, June 2023
- Velma Hinds Obituary Legacy, June 2023