Services Set For Metro Detroit Woman Believed To Be Oldest US Veteran

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Funeral services are set for a Detroit-area woman who was believed to be the oldest U.S. veteran at the time of her death.

Public viewings for Emma Didlake will be held from 6-8 p.m. Thursday and noon-8 p.m. Friday at Swanson Funeral Home on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit.  Funeral services are set for Saturday, Aug. 22 at 11 a.m. at Second Baptist Church of Detroit.

Didlake of West Bloomfield died Sunday at age 110.  Born in Alabama, Didlake moved with her family to Detroit in 1944.

She was a 38-year-old wife and mother of five when she signed up in 1943 for the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. Didlake served about seven months stateside during the war, as a private and driver.

She joined the NAACP and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963.

"Big Mama — that's what we called her — Big Mama," Didlake's granddaughter, Marilyn Horn told WWJ's Zahra Huber. "So everybody now calls her Big Mama."

Horn said that during their trip to Washington D.C. in July to meet President Obama -- Didlake met a woman who served in Afghanistan.

"She was just so excited to see Big Mama, because she paved the way, you know, for her to be able to do what's she's doing now," Horn said.

Horn said she's touched that so many people have reached out to her family after hearing Big Mama's story on the news.

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