Edythe Kirchmaier (née King, January 22, 1908 – October 24, 2015) was an American social worker, who, at age 105, was the oldest user of social media site

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, the oldest registered driver in California and the oldest living graduate of

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

Biography

She was the

's oldest living former graduate, and resided in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

. Kirchmaier attended Springfield High School in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and graduated from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1930. She spent spring quarters from 1931 to 1934 taking courses and doing field work. She also enrolled in the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

. She took a position in the welfare department of

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

and in a state welfare office, where she became a supervisor. She met her husband Joe Kirchmaier while working in state welfare and they married in 1938. They had 2 children. She was the eldest registered driver in California and had a perfect record during her 86 years as a motorist. She was donated a

Honda Civic The is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. Since 2000, the Civic has been categorized as a compact car, while previously it occupied the subcompact class. , the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/City and Honda Acc ...

to help her work with her organisation after her caravan was destroyed. She was married for over 70 years. Her husband died in 2008 at age 98, when she was 100 years of age. On January 22, 2013, she signed up to Facebook on her 105th birthday. Facebook engineers however had to "decode" information, as her birth year was not recognized In retirement, she volunteered once a week for the charity

Direct Relief Direct Relief (formerly known as Direct Relief International) is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that provides emergency medical assistance and disaster relief in the United States and internationally. The organization is headed by an inde ...

Media appearances

She was featured on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'', ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'', and on the

Oprah Winfrey Network Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is an American multinational basic cable channel jointly owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Harpo Studios that launched on January 1, 2011, replacing the Discovery Health Channel. The network is led by talk show h ...

program ''

Super Soul Sunday ''Super Soul Sunday'' is a self-help talk show hosted by Oprah Winfrey, which airs on the Oprah Winfrey Network. ''Super Soul Sunday'' premiered on October 16, 2011. Format ''Super Soul Sunday'' is designed to help viewers awaken to their best sel ...

'', for her volunteer work at Direct Relief.

Death

She died at the age of 107 on October 24, 2015.

References

External links

* Official page {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirchmaier, Edythe 1908 births 2015 deaths American women centenarians Ohio State University alumni University of Chicago alumni People from Springfield, Ohio People from Santa Barbara, California