Gladys Powers
Encyclopedia
Gladys Stokes Luxford Powers (May 10, 1899 – August 15, 2008) was thought to be, at age 109, the last female
Female
Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

 veteran of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 following the March 27, 2007 death of fellow 109-year-old Charlotte Winters
Charlotte Winters
Charlotte Louise Berry Winters was, at age 109, the last surviving female American veteran of The First World War.-Biography:...

 from the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. However the subsequent discovery of fellow Britons
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

 Ivy Campany
Ivy Campany
Ivy Lillian Campany was, at age 107, the second from last World War I female army veteran of any country. The last is Florence Green , who was not identified as a veteran of the conflict until January 2010...

, who died on December 19, 2008, and Florence Green
Florence Green
Florence Beatrice Green is the last known living veteran of the First World War. She was a member of the Women's Royal Air Force.-Biography:...

 (still living), has disproved this. Regardless, Powers was the last veteran living in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, following the death of Dwight Wilson
Dwight Wilson
Percy "Dwight" Wilson was the second-to-last surviving Canadian veteran of the First World War.Born in Vienna, Elgin County, Ontario, he signed up as a 15-year old boy in 1916...

 on May 9, 2007, the day before Powers' 108th birthday. The last Canadian-born veteran, 109-year-old John Babcock
John Babcock
John Henry Foster "Jack" Babcock was, at age 109, the last known surviving veteran of the Canadian military to have served in the First World War and, after the death of Harry Patch, was the conflict's oldest surviving veteran...

, later moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 where he lived until his death on 18 February 2010.

Powers was born in Lewisham
Lewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...

, County of London
County of London
The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government Act 1888. The Act created an administrative County of...

, the daughter of Frederick Charles Stokes. During her childhood she lived in both Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. In 1915, she volunteered as a barracks waitress for the WAAC despite the minimum age being 17. Later she transferred to the WRAF
Women's Royal Air Force
The Women's Royal Air Force was a women's branch of the Royal Air Force which existed in two separate incarnations.The first WRAF was an auxiliary organization of the Royal Air Force which was founded in 1918. The original intent of the WRAF was to provide female mechanics in order to free up men...

. In 1920, she married Edward Luxford, a Canadian soldier, whom she had met while visiting her older brother, Cyril, in hospital, where the latter was recovering from shell shock
Shell Shock
Shell Shock, also known as 82nd Marines Attack was a 1964 film by B-movie director John Hayes. The film takes place in Italy during World War II, and tells the story of a sergeant with his group of soldiers....

 incurred during the war.

The Luxfords moved to Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

 that year, and walked almost 1000 kilometres along the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 tracks to British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 in 1925. They later divorced and Powers remarried and was widowed twice, before meeting and marrying Andrew Powers in 1973, whom she also outlived. She lived in Abbotsford
Abbotsford, British Columbia
Abbotsford is a Canadian city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, adjacent to Greater Vancouver. It is the fifth largest municipality in British Columbia, home to 123,864 people . Its Census Metropolitan Area, which includes the District of Mission, is the 23rd largest in Canada,...

from 1992 until her death in 2008.

It is locally said that Cyril Street and Gladys Avenue in Abbotsford are named after the siblings.
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