Elizabeth Fairgirl Gromdy (born 8 July 1902? - fl. 3 September 2024?) is/was an American Longevity Claim and the youngest sister of Schultzy Bootz. Her sister claimed to be the oldest person ever. If their ages could be verified they would be the first and third oldest people ever as well as the oldest siblings ever with a combined age of 252 years, nearly 24 years longer than the verified record.
Note: The wording in this article assumes that she is still alive but she hasn't been confirmed alive since Bootz turned 130 on 3 September 2024.
Biography[]
Early Life and Childhood[]
Elizabeth Fairgirl Gromdy was born as Elizabeth Fairgirl Satbroke-Gotz to a family of the German persuasion in Rockville, Tennessee, USA as the youngest child of 18. Her parents were Dalton Paul Starbroke-Gotz (1855-1949) and Pearl Lorella Smith Starbroke-Gotz (1855-1952). Gromdy was born when both of her parents were 47 years old. Dalton and Pearl Starbroke-Gotz where married for over 80 years before their deaths.
Gromdy was raised on a large wooded farm in rural Rockville, Tennessee where she spent most her early life learning to be a seamstress and helping out with farm chores. She grew up in a large old house with five floors and many bedrooms though there were only two bathroom and and outhouse.
Due to the fact that Gromdy was the youngest child, most of her oldest siblings were long moved out of the house by the time she was born. In fact, Gromdy was already a great-aunt before she was born because her oldest brother, Henry became a grandfather in 1900 when he was only 31. At this time and due to the fact that Gromdy lived on a farm, most people had children very young. For example, Gromdy's parents had their first child when they were only 13.
When Gromdy's youngest older sibling, Clifton moved out of the house in 1916, Gromdy and her parents lived alone in the house. In 1918, Gromdy got married and moved out of the house and her parents sold their farm and moved into a smaller house closer to town, where they lived the rest of their lives.
Family and Siblings[]
List of Elizabeth's siblings (males in bold)
- Henry Styler Starbroke-Gotz (1868-1968)
- Johnson Starbroke-Gotz (1870-1971)
- Dotty Siler (1872-1980)
- Patricia Marie Borgdon (1874-1985)
- London Artwerk Starbroke-Gotz (1876-1947)
- Gretta Sente Arbuch (1878-1943)
- Harrison Lee-Rainer Starbroke-Gotz (1880-1958)
- Sampson Hauser Starbroke-Gotz (1882-1972)
- Oo Monroe Cox-Martin (1884-1979)
- Gertrude Townsen Housecoat (1886-1990)
- Linville Colton Starbroke-Gotz (1888-1954)
- Samantha Rebba Colfax (1890-1968)
- Gordan Vann Starbroke-Gotz (1892-1989)
- Schultzy Greta Bootz (1894-2024)
- Cynthia VandenOsdell (1896-1999)
- Quinn Tyler Starbroke-Gotz (1898-2007)
- Clifton Banks Starbroke-Gotz (1900-1987)
- Elizabeth Faregirl Gromdy (1902-present)
Marriage and Children[]
Gromdy got married in 1918 and had two sons and a daughter and soon moved to Dutton, Tennessee. She and her husband bought a two story house in Dutton in 1921 that had five bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Middle Life[]
Gromdy was fortunate to have all of her siblings still alive until 1943 when her older sister Gretta died. Gretta developed an undiagnosed disease in 1941 and moved in the Gromdy and her husband in 1942 due to her ill health. At this point all of Gromdy's children had moved out of the house. The day Gretta died, Gromdy recalled that all of her sibling and parents gathered around Gretta's bed. No one expected Gretta to die so young and no one expected her to be the first sibling to die. Everyone just spoke in shock, "Oh no, not Gretta." This was a hard hit to the family especially Gromdy's parents who were still alive at the age of 87. Gromdy speaks of this moment as one of the darkest times of her life. Gromdy states to the present day that she is extremely glad that all three of her children are still alive and healthy. She had to watch her parents lose by Gretta and her brother London while they were still alive and she saw how hard it was for them.
Gromdy's parents maintained good health into their older age and lived in a small cottage in the center of town. They were married for 81 years until her father, Dalton died at the age of 94 in 1949. Her mother, Pearl lived independently until early 1952 when she moved in with her eldest son, Henry who was 84 years old himself, she died two months later at the age of 97 in 1952. Gromdy was 50 years old at this time.
Gromdy continued to live in her large house with her husband long after her children were gone. Her husband's health began to fail in 1977 and Gromdy took care of him until his death in 1979 at the age of only 77. Gromdy watched more and more of her siblings die throughout the coming decades. In 1970, Gromdy had 11 siblings alive which she was very thankful for since in 1970, Gromdy turned 68. By 1980, she only had eight siblings left out of her original 17 siblings. By 1990 only 4 siblings remained and by 2000, only 2. By 2010, only her and her sister Schultzy remained out of the original family.
Gromdy did not despair though because she had contless nieces and nephews and cousins and grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even great-great grandchildren.
After this, Gromdy lived in the large house for the next 68 years until 1997 when she was 95 years old. At this time she was having trouble walking so she moved into a one bedroom apartment on the third floor of a building at Stringmoor Circle Life Community.
Later Life[]
In her younger years, Gromdy was a very active person. She developed a problem with her legs when she was in her mid 70s and was walking with a cane by the age of 79. Despite this, Gromdy maintained relaitvely good health well past 80. When Gromdy was in her mid to late 80s and even into her early 90s, she would still walk around outside her house in the neighborhood at night, even if it was cold and/or raining. She quit doing this at the age of 91 in 1993 when she had to start using a walker.
Gromdy moved into a nursing home at the age of 104 in 2006. She used to live on Stringmoor Circle in Tennessee and continued to reiterate that she wanted to be taken back to Stringmoor Circle until she lost the ability to talk. When she moved from her apartment on Stringmoor Circle to her current nursing home she was in very bad shape. However, her relatives put her in her car and told her to glide across the street into the nursing home parking lot across the street even though she was practically bedridden. She almost wrecked her car in the middle of the street and then actually wrecked her car into a culvert on the side of the nursing home parking lot. Her health declined after that.
Gromdy has been bedridden since a fall at the age of 108 in 2011. She had a stroke at the age of 118 in 2020 that left her unable to talk.
Gromdy is the youngest sister of Schultzy Bootz who lived to be 130 years old. Gromdy still lives around Rockville, Tennessee, USA but Schultzy lives in Knoxville. Despite being eight years younger than Schultzy, Gromdy is in much worse condition. Schultzy was still living as if she was 30 long after Gromdy and all of the other siblings were driving Park Avenue's and moving into nursing homes. Gromdy drove a park avenue at one point but she wrecked it at the age of 104 when she was in the process of moving into her nursing home. Gromdy also used to go get her roots done like her sister but stopped around the age of 120. She is now a great-great grandmother.
One of Gromdy's other sisters Cynthia VandenOsdell, who she was very close with died in December 1999 at the age of 103. VandenOsdell was in good health like Schultzy and lived independently until her death of a sudden heart attack soon before the year 2000.
Ongoing Status[]
Elizabeth Gromdy currently lives in Dutton, Tennessee, USA at the claimed age of 122 years, 121 days. Her health condition is very bad and she spends most of her time in bed. In mid-April 2024 her health is so bad that no more pictures will be taken, her doctor stated that Gromdy is "winding down." She wants to live to 122 years, 165 days so that she can surpass Jeanne Calment like her sister already has. Her funeral will be on December 20, 2024 whether she has passed away or not. She will also be kicked out of her nursing home on that date since her lease will run out.
Elizabeth Gromdy's sister Schultzy Bootz died on 26 September 2024 at the age of 130 years, 23 days as the result of an in-home accident. Gromdy was last confirmed alive on 3 September 2024 (Bootz's 130th birthday) at the claimed age of 122 years, 58 days. She may go to limbo because she was not said to have attended her sister's funeral. This is not certain but her milestones will be put on hold until she is confirmed alive. In other words her ongoing is suspect because though she was confirmed alive at her sister's birthday, she was not confirmed alive at her sister's death.
On 22 October 2024, an article reported that Gromdy was just diagnosed with cancer. If this is correct, Gromdy would still be alive. However an expert said that they would not issue Gromdy alive until there is confirmation that she attended her sister's funeral. A guestbook from Bootz's funeral has been located but it does not contain Gromdy's name. However, some say that Gromdy may be unable to write which would explain why she could have attended the funeral but not signed the guestbook. As of now there is no hope of confirming Gromdy alive until there is proof that she attended the funeral. If anyone has proof, please add a comment at the bottom of the page with a link to the proof. Note that if no proof of life or proof of death can be found, Gromdy's age CANNOT be verified. So please do the right thing and give proof NOW!
As of 29 October 2024, several different "proofs" have been submitted but none of them have qualified as substantial proof. For example there was a picture of Gromdy supposedly at the funeral but there was a decoration in the church behind Gromdy that was not in the video of the church's service that was recorded the past Sunday. This makes the picture questionable. Also, there was a picture of a supposed "guestbook" from the funeral that included Gromdy's name written in her handwriting but the m in Gromdy was slightly lower than the rest of the letters which makes this questionable. There were also at least 20 people who signed legal affidavits stating that Gromdy was at the funeral but a legal affidavit is not considered substantial proof in these circumstances. As of now no proof has been accepted or verified. If you have any proof please respond here.
Gallery[]
References[]
- Japanese News Article Transcript