Claire O'Rourke

January 23, 1885 (age 111)

At 111 years of age, she was also one of the oldest Americans on record and the oldest known survivor of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The Cayot family owned and operated the The Union Hotel, La Porte, California and Frank Cayot supplemented their income by handling the account books for a number of local mines and businesses. The family was known for their sometimes controversial friendship with Chinese settlers. When, in 1886, the Miner's Anti-Chinese Association instigated a boycott of businesses which employed Chinese workers, Frank Cayot was added to the boycott list for employing a Chinese cook. Fortunately for the family, the local boycott proved ineffective because the hotel business depended primarily on income from stagecoach travel. Following her husband's death in 1949, O'Rourke took over his job. In 1955, during the height of a snow storm, O'Rourke was hit by a car while crossing Coburn Street at the corner of Main Street in Quincy, near the Plumas County Courthouse. She recovered and was elected three times in her own right before retiring in 1963 at the age of 78. Ms. O'Rourke later worked as receptionist at the county Social Security office until retiring for the final time in 1984 at age 99. There after, she remained active in volunteer and charity work, serving as treasurer of Quincy's Senior Citizen Nutrition Program. She lived alone for 45 year after her husband's death, before moving into the Quincy retirement home, where she lived until her death in 1996.

Claire O'Rourke

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Background

O'Rourke was born in La Porte, California in 1885, the oldest of seven children born to French-born Francais "Frank" Cayot II and his wife Claire.

Career

At 111 years of age, she was also one of the oldest Americans on record and the oldest known survivor of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The Cayot family owned and operated the The Union Hotel, La Porte, California and Frank Cayot supplemented their income by handling the account books for a number of local mines and businesses. The family was known for their sometimes controversial friendship with Chinese settlers.

When, in 1886, the Miner's Anti-Chinese Association instigated a boycott of businesses which employed Chinese workers, Frank Cayot was added to the boycott list for employing a Chinese cook. Fortunately for the family, the local boycott proved ineffective because the hotel business depended primarily on income from stagecoach travel. Following her husband's death in 1949, O'Rourke took over his job.

In 1955, during the height of a snow storm, O'Rourke was hit by a car while crossing Coburn Street at the corner of Main Street in Quincy, near the Plumas County Courthouse. She recovered and was elected three times in her own right before retiring in 1963 at the age of 78. Ms. O'Rourke later worked as receptionist at the county Social Security office until retiring for the final time in 1984 at age 99.

There after, she remained active in volunteer and charity work, serving as treasurer of Quincy's Senior Citizen Nutrition Program. She lived alone for 45 year after her husband's death, before moving into the Quincy retirement home, where she lived until her death in 1996.

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Claire O'Rourke

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