Mabel Dunbar turned 112 years old today in Fayetteville, Georgia, marking the occasion with a family celebration that included food, stories and cake. Born September 5, 1914, in Jamaica, Dunbar has outlived nearly all of her generation, and she says the reason is simple: faith and family.
According to FOX 5 Atlanta, Dunbar credits her deep religious faith and close family ties for her longevity. Victoria Rosenthal-Williams, a family member, provided information for the story, and Dunbar and her family spoke with the outlet about her life and the values she has held onto for more than a century. Dunbar has one child, four grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and until recently she enjoyed cooking, making her own breakfast every morning, and sharing stories with visitors, per the same account.
A Life That Began in Jamaica
Dunbar was born to parents James Percival Dunbar and Henrietta McCleod in Wakefield, Trelawny, Jamaica, according to the Gerontology Research Group, the international nonprofit that validates and tracks people who reach age 110 or older. She never married, and she raised one daughter, Minora, after another daughter died in infancy at seven months old, the organization notes. Her only surviving child, Minora Rosenthal, brought her from Jamaica to New York in the 1960s, and Dunbar lived with her there for nearly 50 years before eventually heading south.
Local reporting and demographic archives differ slightly on when Dunbar left New York for Florida, with the Observer Local News placing the move around 1994 while the Gerontology Research Group's records point to closer to 2000. Both accounts agree she spent decades afterward living in Palm Coast, Florida, before relocating to Fayetteville in August 2025. While in Florida, Dunbar was a longtime congregant at First Baptist Church of Palm Coast, where she was known to shout “glory” and dance during Sunday morning services, according to the Observer Local News. She also celebrated her 105th birthday there in August 2019 at the George Wickline Senior Center in Flagler Beach, sharing banana splits with 38 friends.
Faith, Family and a Message for Grandchildren
At today's celebration in Fayetteville, Dunbar told FOX 5 Atlanta that her grandchildren help her and that good people are always there for her. She advised people to treat their grandchildren as well as possible, and she said she loves strangers. Reflecting on the faith that has anchored her life, Dunbar said, “God is love,” adding that she loves her families.
Dunbar has stayed active for most of her life and has spent much of it serving others, according to the outlet's report. Family and friends gathered around her Fayetteville home for the birthday celebration, sharing stories and cake in a gathering that reflected the close family ties she says have carried her this far.
An Exceptionally Rare Milestone
Dunbar's age was officially validated on October 3, 2024, by the Gerontology Research Group following age verification work by demographic researchers Dr. Wacław Jan Kroczek and Oliver Trim, confirming her status as an authenticated supercentenarian. Reaching age 110 is achieved by only about one in 1,000 centenarians worldwide, according to the Gerontology Research Group, making Dunbar's milestone an exceptionally rare one even among the world's oldest people.
Her longevity also lands amid a broader demographic shift. The U.S. centenarian population is projected to more than quadruple, from an estimated 101,000 in 2024 to roughly 422,000 by 2054, per Pew Research Center projections drawn from Census Bureau data. A special Census Bureau report released last September found that 78.8% of American centenarians were women in 2020, following a 50% surge in the nation's centenarian population between 2010 and 2020.
That graying trend is visible close to home, too. In Fayette County, where Fayetteville sits, residents aged 65 and older made up 21.1% of the roughly 122,000 total population in 2024, according to USAFacts. A 2025 demographic study by the Atlanta Regional Commission found that Fayette County went from having the third-highest ratio of children to seniors among 11 metro-Atlanta counties in 1980 to having the fewest children per senior by 2024, a shift that mirrors the suburban aging pattern playing out across Georgia. According to the Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Aging Services, information specialists at the Aging & Disability Resource Connection provide access to a variety of aging services for older Georgians and their families. According to the Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Aging Services, Georgia's Respite Care Study is intended to describe and evaluate the overall landscape of caregiver respite services and caregiver services policy in the state. Fayette County public-engagement planning materials identify senior-services transportation and increased transportation funding as local priorities. For Dunbar, though, the numbers matter less than the people around her, the great-grandchildren, grandchildren and neighbors who filled her home today to mark 112 years of a life she says has been guided, above all, by love.
