Dolores Maria Vazquez de Martinez, Panama’s oldest living person, dies at 113

The Gerontology Research Group is saddened to report that Mrs. Dolores María Vázquez de Martínez, the oldest living person in Panama, sadly died in Natá, Coclé Province, Panama on 23 October 2024 at the age of 113 years, 175 days.

Dolores María Vázquez was born in Natá, Coclé Province, Panama, on 1 May 1911, to parents José Aeno Vázquez and Genoveva Díaz.

In July 1933, at the age of 22, she married José Juventino Martínez, with whom she had only one daughter but raised five more children (three girls and two boys). Her husband died at the age of 85. She was also known as a healer, often sought out by those who came to her for home remedies whenever they felt unwell.

On 1 May 2021, she celebrated her 110th birthday, becoming a supercentenarian.

On 26 March 2022, following the death of 112-year-old Marcelina Araúz de Maure, she became the oldest living person in Panama.

Following her death, the new oldest known (documented) living person in Panama is 109-year-old Juan Bautista Quiróz Pití (born 29 August 1915) of Volcancito, Boquete, Chiriquí, Panama.