At 111, Indiana's oldest resident shares her memories

Frankfort Mayor Judy Sheets and city officials present flowers to 111-year-old Mary Ransopher. (Submitted photo)

There's a lady in Indiana who was born the year the Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean and Girl Scouts were started by Juliette Gorden Low. 

Mary Ransopher, of Frankfort, Indiana, is the state's oldest resident at 111. We're taking note of this because back in 2008, there was another resident who was 115 and lived in a Shelbyville nursing home. Edna Parker's distinction was that she was the oldest person in the WORLD and listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

Edna Parker and Sandy Allen in 2007.

Adding to that coincidence is that Edna Ruth Scott Parker, originally from Morgan County, lived at The Heritage House Convalescent Center the same time as World's Tallest Woman Sandy Allen (7 feet 7.25 inches), who was from Shelbyville and in the Guinness Book for many years. Sandy passed away at age 53 in August 2008, and Edna followed in November at 115.

Houston, Texas, resident Elizabeth Francis is the oldest person in the United States after turning 115 years old July 25. She was born in 1909 in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana.

Two supercentenarians and a giantess have brought recognition to Indiana, and we salute them!

Mary Ransopher was born Mary Isabel Farlow in Russiaville, Indiana, on December 25, 1912, to Ed and Pansy Farlow on a farm that her grandfather bought. She had four brothers. In August 1935, she married J. Marland "Marlin" Ransopher. They went on to have four children, and her husband died in 2006.

For more about Mary, check out this insightful interview she did on her birthday last Christmas with the Clinton County Daily News: Mary Isabel Ransopher Turns 111 on Christmas Day at Wesley Manor