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State’s oldest resident dies a month after 114th birthday

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — A 114-year-old woman believed to be Michigan’s oldest resident has died.

Ellen Goodwill, who lived at Advantage Living Center in Battle Creek, died Tuesday, according to a friend, Sharon Miller. She celebrated a birthday on Feb. 2, the Battle Creek Enquirer reported. The newspaper cited the Gerontology Research Group, which keeps track of supercentenarians who reach 110, on her status as oldest Michigander.

“She’s been a lady of grace, knowledge and has been a blessing to all,” Miller told the Enquirer. “Normally people don’t live past 100, and God had her here for a reason.”

Goodwill was born Ellen Lear in 1907 near Paris, Kentucky. She settled in Battle Creek where her husband, Augustus “Gus” Goodwill, was being treated for injuries from World War II.

Goodwill’s husband died in 1972. The couple had no children.

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