Sports fans always claim that they’re the most loyal to their favorite team. But how many of these self-proclaimed die-hard fans can say that they’ve followed their teams for over 100 years?
With only about 300,000 centenarians living today, not many people can say that they’ve done anything for an entire century.
All of the people on the following list, however, can proudly say that they have been fans of the Chicago Cubs longer than anyone else. They were all over 100 years old when the Cubs won the 2016 World Series and two of them were even born in 1908, the last time the Cubs took the title.
7. Virginia Wood
Current Age: 103 years old
Date of Birth: November 1914
Current Residence: Arlington Heights, Illinois
photo source: NPR
Virginia Wood rounds out the list of Chicago Cubs fans over 100 years old. At the time of her media interviews, just before the Cubs won the 2016 World Series, Wood said that their win would be a great birthday present.
Wood said that she has been a fan of the Cubs for as long as she remembers and recalls attending her first Cubs game at Wrigley Field in 1924 when she was 10 years old.
When she got older, Wood would watch games in person as often as she could. She also said that even though she had great affection for the 1969 and 1984 Cubs teams, the 2016 team was her favorite because they are “young and enthusiastic and having a good time.”
6. Irene Mooney
Current Age: 102 years old
Date of Birth: December 19, 1914
Current Residence: Frankfort, Illinois
photo source: wgntv.com
During the 2016 World Series, Irene Mooney gained attention for not only being 101 years old, but for also working as a hot dog vendor at Wrigley Field in 1945, which was the last time the Cubs tried to go for the Series title.
Mooney said that back then she wasn’t able to watch the game because she was working behind the scenes selling hot dog and pouring sodas – she worked at Wrigley Field until she was 50 years old.
At the time of the interview, Mooney said that she had a strong feeling that the Cubs would finally win the Series again, “Because everything comes around. [She] figured they’d have their day.”
5. Mary Ethridge
Current Age: 106 years old
Date of Birth: November 1911
Current Residence: Bartlett, Illinois
photo source: wgntv.com
Mary Ethridge, who is another Cubs fan over 100 years, still has a sharp mind and is able to recall going to see the Cubs play like it was yesterday. Her room at the nursing home she lives in, is covered with Cubs memorabilia. Two of her most prized possessions are a ball signed by Billie Williams and a bat signed by Ron Santo.
Ehtridge’s favorite thing to talk about when discussing the Cubs is how she fell in love with baseball through Ladies Day — a pioneering marketing concept to encourage more women and families to go to the ball park.
Read about the Oldest baseball teams in the United States.
4. Ray Styrlund
Current Age: 106 years old
Date of Birth: 1911
Current Residence: East Moline, Illinois; born in Minnesota and moved to Chicago in the 1930s
photo source: Quad-City Times
Ray Styrlund is the oldest-known male fan of the Chicago Cubs at 106 years old. Styrlund, who is almost completely blind and no longer watches television, has stayed completely loyal to the Cubs since he moved to Chicago near Wrigley Field in the 1930s.
Instead of watching the games, Styrlund has listened to nearly every Cubs game on the radio for several years. When Styrlund lived near Wrigley Field, he was able to watch a lot of games, but he hasn’t seen a game in person in over 76 years.
In an interview, Styrlund joked that he has only lived so long because he wanted to see his favorite team win the Series just once.
3. Mavis Bell
Current Age: 106 years old
Date of Birth: 1911
Current Residence: East Moline, Illinois; born in Minnesota and moved to Chicago in the 1930s
photo source: Quad-City Times
According to her grandson, Mavis Bell is the oldest known Cubs fan (this list proves otherwise), and he notified MLB.com, a few days before the Cubs won the 2016 World Series, to let everyone know about his grandmother. In a different interview with the Daily Chronicle from September 2016, Bell talked about her lifelong obsession with the Cubs and said that she didn’t want to wait another season at her age to see them win the Series again.
Although Bell’s eyesight is failing and hearing has partially diminished, she said that she never missed a Cubs game. Bell said that she only attended two games in person, once in St. Louis when the Cubs lost to the Cardinals and another time at Wrigley Field when the Cubs won.
2. Hazel Nilson
Current Age: 109 years old
Date of Birth: August 1908
Current Residence: New Hampshire; grew up in Chicago
photo source: Twitter via Jim Morelli
Hazel Nilson made national news after the 2016 World Series as she celebrated the Chicago Cubs’ win. She is the second-known person who was alive the last time the Cubs won the World Series in 1908 — she was just a few months old.
Nilson grew up in the North Side of Chicago near Wrigley Field, but currently lives in an assisted living facility in New Hampshire.
Although she was obviously happy over the outcome of the game, Nilson said that she “never lost faith in the Cubs” and loved them even when they lost games. A reporter from New England Cable News watched the winning game with Nilson and recorded her reaction.
1. Vivian Baron
Current Age: 109 years old
Date of Birth: January 1908
Current Residence: Kankakee, Illinois
photo source: Chicago Tribune
Vivian Baron is most likely the oldest living Chicago Cubs fan at 109 years old. In an interview from late October 2016, prior to the Cubs’ 2016 World Series win, Baron said that she was born nine months before the Cubs had last won in 1908.
She said that she was excited at the prospect of the Cubs winning another world series, but added that she had prepared herself emotionally for disappointment once again.
Baron said that she fell in love with the Cubs after she married her late husband, Mose, who had been a lifelong Cub supporter. She acknowledged that she wasn’t the most obsessive fan and that she had only visited Wrigley Field a few times.
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