Ford was at least 115 years and 245 days old at the time of her death, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which confirmed her in 2019 as the oldest living American. However, her family told CNN that she was born on August 15, 1904. , which would turn her 116 years old.
Ford was born in Lancaster, South Carolina, to Peter and Frances McCardell. She then married John Ford and had 12 children – eight girls and four boys.
“It’s overwhelming, yet an awakening experience to realize that my grandmother was not just an ordinary woman, but extraordinary,” Patterson-Powe told CNN in an email.
“She never fit ‘into an’ all-size box ‘as she was a master inventor and innovator – a pioneer who determined her own trends in the community and her home,” she said.
Patterson-Powe described her great-grandmother as steadfast and immobile in the face of adversity.
“She never complained, never showed a defeat or held a sorry party,” Patterson-Powe said.