How old is/was the oldest person you know/knew personally?

[politicallefty]

I met a great-aunt, who I believe at the time was in her late 80s. I've never really had the chance to meet some of the exceptionally old people in my family. I never had the chance to meet any great-grandparents or even great-great-grandparents. Incidentally, I think I would've had a better chance of meeting the latter than the former. My great-great-grandmother died just five years before I was born (she'd lived from 1884-1982, immigrating to the US from England in the early 1900s). I had a great-great-aunt that died about ten years ago (in her mid-80s, I think), but I never had the chance to meet her.

The oldest person I tended to see on at least a somewhat regular basis was my grandma, who died earlier this year at just 75 (almost certainly from a blood clot related to a very recent surgery). After her, the oldest people I have close relationships with in my family are my grandma and grandpa (technically step-grandpa, but he's been my grandpa my entire life) on my mom's side who are 70 and 63.

[Bacon King]

My Grandmother is 93

[bedstuy]

My great grandmother was 98.  She was the the only person I ever met who lived in the nineteenth century.

[TNF]

I know a guy who remembers voting for Harry Truman.

[Arturo Belano]

My great-grandmother, who was 96 at the time when I met her. She was 98 when she died.

[ilikeverin]

My only living grandparent is my maternal grandma, who's 96.

[RosettaStoned]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Whittemore

 I met and talked to him.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

I guess it depends on what you mean by knowing them "personally."  There's a lady at my church who is about 95 or 96.  (In fact, there are a number of people in my church in their 80s or 90s--I don't think it necessarily has anything to do with vegetarianism. )  I don't think I've ever known anyone who made it to 100, though.  My great-grandmother lived to be 83, and she would stay at our house for periods of time, switching between my grandma and her sister (who lived between Chicago and Milwaukee at the time.)  I was six years old when she died, so I guess that's probably the best answer.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

The second-oldest person I knew (other great-aunt) died today at 96. I didn't knew her terribly well, but she was pretty close with my grandma.