https://longeviquest.com/2025/09/pennsylvania-woman-bernice-sebastian-turns-112/

Pennsylvania Woman Bernice Sebastian Turns 112

Bernice Rosalind Eugene Sebastian, a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, is celebrating her 112th birthday today. She was born in St. Kitts and Nevis and holds the distinction of being the oldest person ever born there. Her birthday was first reported by the St. Kitts-Nevis Times and St. Kitts Nevis Riddim.

Sebastian was born in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis (then part of the United Kingdom), on 21 September 1913. Her father was a Caribbean trade union leader and politician, Joseph Matthew Sebastian.

She began her education at Miss Walters Private School and later taught math as a student teacher at the Girls School. At 15, she earned a Moravian Scholarship to attend Teachers’ Training College in Antigua, where she also joined the Girl Guides as a Ranger. After returning to Saint Kitts, she pursued a lifelong teaching career: first as an assistant teacher at Basseterre Boys’ School (1932–1941), then as Headmistress of Dieppe Bay Infant School for 25 years, before finishing her career at Irish Town School, retiring in 1969. She never married or had children.

Following her mother’s passing, she left Saint Kitts to live in Nova Scotia, Canada with her sister, Dorette, where she would spend the next 27 years. Around 2000, she moved to Queens, New York, to live with her sister Elise. Then, in 2005, she moved to Barryville, and finally, in 2011, she settled in Philadelphia.

She is the second-oldest known living person in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, following the nation’s oldest resident, Naomi Whitehead.

Happy birthday, Ms. Sebastian!