Puerto Rican Ynés María de Jesús Garay Celebrates Her 110th Birthday

https://longeviquest.com/2025/04/puerto-rican-ynes-maria-de-jesus-garay-celebrates-her-110th-birthday/

Ynés María de Jesús Garay, a resident of Cayey, Puerto Rico, celebrated her 110th birthday on 20 April.

Her birthday was first reported by the Facebook page Conociendo a Puerto Rico, which showcases the island’s beauty, culture, and lifestyle. The page frequently features stories about Puerto Rico’s oldest citizens and their remarkable lives.

Ynés María de Jesús Garay was born in the Rincón neighborhood of Cayey, on 20 April 1915 to parents Eugenio De Jesús Cartagena and Juana Garay Tirado. At the age of 10, her family moved to the Pasto Viejo neighborhood, where she spent her adolescent years. She left school in the third grade, and began working in tobacco farming – then a booming industry in Puerto Rico – at the age of 13. She learned to sew from her mother, and earned an additional income from sewing and selling both clothing and ragdolls.

children together. Both earned a living working in a factory, where their job was to strip tobacco leaves. The family owned a farm, where they would grow crops such as sweet potato, avocado, and corn, and owned livestock which included cows, pigs, and goats. Her husband died in 1983, after 44 years of marriage.

She is currently the second-oldest (known) living person in Puerto Rico behind Ms. A. H. B. S.

Happy 110th Birthday!