Ralph Waldo McBurney (October 3, 1902 – July 8, 2009) was said to be the oldest worker in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Until a relatively short time before his death at age 106, he lived and worked as a

beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin '' apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...

in the city of Quinter,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. Although he was born in Quinter and had lived in the Quinter area for many years,McBurney, Charles and Beth. ''Reformed Presbyterian Ministers 1950-1993''. Pittsburgh: Crown and Covenant, 1994, pp. 105-106. he had also lived near the Kansas cities of Sterling and Beloit. In his last years, he was recognized nationwide for his longevity.Waldo McBurney dies at 106

KSNW KSNW (channel 3) is a television station in Wichita, Kansas, United States, affiliated with NBC and Telemundo. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios on North Main Street in northwest Wichita (near downtown); its tran ...

, 2009-07-10. Accessed 2009-07-26.

Personal life

He was the third of six children born to George R. and Mary B. (Huston) McBurney. After two years at Sterling College, he transferred to the Kansas State Agricultural College (now

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

), from which he graduated in 1927. Two years later, he married the former Irene Spear; together, they had three children. After her death in 1960, he married the former Vernice Forman in 1962, twelve years younger than he; Vernice died in 2016 at the age of 102. He suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in 1994, but continued competing afterward. He died at the Gove County Medical Center in Quinter on July 8, 2009. McBurney served as an elder in the Quinter congregation of the

Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) is a Presbyterianism, Presbyterian church with congregations and missions throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, and Chile. Its beliefs—held in common with other members of the Refo ...

, and his father and his son Kenneth (who survived him) both served as

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

in the same denomination. His father, too, was long-lived, being the oldest minister in the denomination at his death.

Sports

He held multiple

Masters athletics world records Masters athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of over 35 years of age. The events include track and field, road running and cross country running. These are the current world records in various five-year-groups , maintained b ...

for

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

events for his age level. In 2004, he published an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

entitled ''My First 100 Years''. He credited his success partially to his age; as he said in his autobiography, "It is easy to earn gold medals when one has no competition in one's age group!" His continued competition at his age attracted the attention of gerontologists.

Recognition

In October 2006, McBurney was recognized as the oldest worker in America by Experience Works. As a result, he was featured in newspapers nationwide and on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

television program ''Assignment America''. He is also a past recipient of the "Hometown Health Hero" award given by the

Governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

.Williams cited as a 'Hometown Health Hero'
''Augusta Gazette'', 2007-10-05. Accessed 2007-10-09.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McBurney, Waldo 1902 births 2009 deaths American autobiographers American centenarians American Presbyterians American masters athletes American beekeepers Kansas State University alumni Men centenarians People from Quinter, Kansas Reformed Presbyterian Church (denominational group) Writers from Kansas Presbyterians from Kansas Sportspeople from Kansas