The Starbroke-Gotz family is a family that comes from Niota Tennessee. The importance of this family is that it has produced 9 centenarians and 3 supercentenarians as well as a longevity claim and a longevity myths. As of the present day, only 1 member of this family is still alive and that is Elizabeth Gromdy.
History[]
The family began in 1867 with the union of Johonne Clement (1850-1946) and Mary Pepe Griswold Starbroke-Gotz (1852-1950). They ended up having 18 children born from 1868 to 1902. They were 18 and 16 when their first son was born and they were 52 and 50 when their last child, Elizabeth Gromdy was born. In fact Jahonne and Mary Pepe were already great grandparents to 6 great-grandchildren by the time their daughter Elizabeth was born.
The family grew up in rural Niota, Tennessee, mostly in the later 19th and earlier 20th centuries. The family was very hard working and owned a farm with a large house on it. The parents owned this farm until Elizabeth moved out of the house in 1920. At this point they sold the farm and moved into a smaller house closer to the center of town.
The family remained intact from 1902 until 1943 when the sixth child and third daughter, Gretta Arbuch died. By 1950 all of the sibilings except for Gretta and London remained including their mother. In 1960, 14 siblings remained, in 1970 there were 12, in 1980 there were 9, in 1990 there were 6, in 2000 there were 3 and in 2010 and 2020 there have only been two, Schultzy and Elizabeth. Schultzy Bootz died in September 2024 so therefore, Elizabeth became the last surviving member of the family as well as the only 1 to make it to the second half of the 2020s.
List of Children[]
- 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)
Individual Biographies[]
Johonne Clement Starbroke-Gotz[]
Johonne Clement was born on 17 January 1850
Mary Pepe Griswold Starbroke-Gotz[]
Mary Pepe was born on 3 February 1852
Henry Styler Starbroke-Gotz[]
Henry Styler was born on 3 April 1868 as the first child and first son of Mary and Johonne Starbroke-Gotz.
Johnson Starbroke-Gotz[]
Johnson was born on 11 October 1870 as the second child and second son of Mary and Johonne Starbroke-Gotz.
Dorothy S. Siler[]
Dorothy was born on 22 June 1872 as the third child and first daughter of Mary and Johonne Starbroke-Gotz.
Patricia Marie Borgdon[]
Main article: Patricia Borgdon
Patricia was born on 17 October 1874 as the fourth child and second daughter of Mary and Johonne Starbroke-Gotz.
London Artwerk Starbroke-Gotz[]
London was born on 4 July 1876 (coincidentally on the centennial of America) as the fifth child and third son of Mary and Johonne Starbroke-Gotz.
Gretta Sente Arbuch[]
Gretta was born on 29 August 1878 as the sixth child and third daughter of Mary and Johonne Starbroke-Gotz. She married in 1900 and had three children (born 1900, 1902 and 1904). She stayed in the Niota region but traveled some. Arbuch mainly worked in factories her whole life. Her husband outlived her by over 20 years. Arbuch was in poor health in her later years. Her was traumatically degloved while she was working in a factory in 1935. She suffered poor health for her remaining life and moved in with her youngest sister, Elizabeth Gromdy in Knoxville, Tennessee in the year 1942. She became bedridden and died on 16 September 1943 at the age of only 65. She was survived by her parents as well as all 17 of her siblings, her husband Thomas as well as her three children, 6 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.
Harrison Lee-Rainer Starbroke-Gotz[]
Harrison was born on 1 March 1880 as the seventh child and fourth son of Mary and Johonne Starbroke-Gotz.
Sampson Hauser Starbroke-Gotz[]
Sampson was born on 17 March 1882 as the eighth child and fifth son of Mary and Johonne Starbroke-Gotz.
Oo Monroe Cox-Martin[]
Oo was born on 3 December 1884 as the ninth child and fourth daughter of Mary and Johonne Starbroke-Gotz. Oo lived in Niota for her whole life and married in 1914 and had a son and a daughter. Her husband died in 1930 at the age of 46 and left Oo to raise the two children on her own. She lived with her parents for a few years around this time and began living on her own in a small house near the center of Niota after her children had moved away. Oo suffered from financially difficulties for a few years and was helped by her church. In 1969 Oo was in a car accident that rendered her unable to walk. She subsequently moved in with her daughter, her son-in law and two of her grandchildren. Oo later moved to a nursing home in 1974 where her health declined significantly. She was bedridden for the last few years of her life. On 30 August 1979, Oo passed away at the age of 94 after a fall from her bed a few days prior. She was survived by her son and her daughter as well as four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She was also survived by nine siblings: two older sisters; Dotty and Patricia, four younger sisters; Gertrude, Schultzy, Cynthia and Elizabeth and three younger brothers; Gordon, Quinn and Cliff.
Gertrude Townsen Housecoat[]
Gertrude was born on 8 May 1886 as the tenth child and fifth daughter of Mary and Johonne Starbroke-Gotz. Housecoat worked in factories for most of her life and married in 1905. She stayed at home with her two sons and daughter until 1927 when her daughter was 15 and she began working in the factory again. Housecoat's husband Robert died in 1970 at the age of 90 following a stroke. Houscoat continued living in her own house in Englewood, TN until her death in 1990. Housecoat's health was great into her later years and she continued to live independently until after turning 100. On 2 June 1990, a gas explosion within her house cause Housecoat to be blown out the back door and into the yard. She broke her left hip and both ankles and was taken to the hospital.
Gertrude Housecoat (1886-1990) in 1981 at the age of 95.
She later developed pneumonia and was in ICU for 5 days. Housecoat was eventually discharged and returned home in a wheelchair on 9 June 1990. The next night, Housecoat had family visiting her and she was lively and talking and chatting with them. She suddenly collapsed and died from a pulmonary embolism, she was 104 years old. She was survived by her three children, 7 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild as well as five younger siblings: three sisters, Schultzy, Cynthia and Elizabeth as well as two brothers, Quinn and Cliff.
Linville Colton Starbroke-Gotz[]
Linville was born on 9 October 1888 as the eleventh child and sixth son of Mary and Johonne Starbroke-Gotz. He married at the age of 16 in 1904 and had eleven children with his wife Sylvia. They went on to have 48 grandchildren and 75 great grandchildren before Linville's death from cancer on 28 May 1954 at the age of only 65. He was the second sibling of the family to die after Gretta Sente Arbuch and one of the two sibilings who died while their parents were still alive. His wife later remarried his lifelong friend Will in 1955 who had lost his wife in 1953. Sylvia lived until 2001 when she was 113 years old. She lived to meet their great-great-great-great grandchildren.
Samantha Rebba Colfax[]
Samantha was born on 2 June 1890 as the twelfth child and sixth daughter of Mary and Johonne Starbroke-Gotz.
Gallery[]
