She grew up in Peekskill, New York where her family ran the Albert Hotel, and as a young woman once met Theodore Roosevelt.
On her 1908 marriage to Karl Benkner, she moved west, living in Pennsylvania and Ohio before retiring to Arizona. Already a supercentenarian and the oldest person in Arizona, she returned to Ohio and became the oldest person there, before becoming the oldest person in the United States when Elena Slough died in October 2003. She lives with her 99-year-old sister who she once cared for when their parents were busy running the hotel.
In November 2003, the death of Mitoyo Kawate left her the oldest documented person in the world, the youngest person to hold that title since the 1980s.
| Preceded by: Mitoyo Kawate |
Oldest Person in the World | Succeeded by: |