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Jon Brower Minnoch

Updated: 12/11/2025, 1:06:57 PM Wikipedia source

Jon Brower Minnoch (September 29, 1941 – September 4, 1983) was an American man who is reported as the heaviest recorded human in history, weighing approximately 1,400 lb (635 kilograms; 100 stone) at his peak. Obese since childhood, Minnoch normally weighed 800–900 lb (363–408 kilograms; 57–64 stone) during his adult years. He owned a taxi company and worked as a driver around his home in Bainbridge Island, Washington. In an attempt to lose weight, Minnoch went on a 600 kcal (2,500 kJ) per day diet under a doctor's orders. As a result, Minnoch was bedridden for about three weeks before finally agreeing to go to a hospital in March 1978. It took over a dozen firefighters to transport him to the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. Doctors diagnosed Minnoch with a massive edema, and an endocrinologist estimated his weight to be approximately 1,400 lb (635 kilograms; 100 stone). His physicians placed him on a 1,200 kcal (5,000 kJ) per day diet where, after around two years in the hospital, he lost over 900 lb (408 kg; 64 st)—the largest documented human weight loss at the time. After leaving the hospital, Minnoch regained much of the weight and died in September 1983, weighing nearly 800 lb (363 kg; 57 st) at his death. Minnoch's casket took up two burial spots at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Seattle.

Infobox

Born
(1941-09-29)September 29, 1941Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Died
September 4, 1983(1983-09-04) (aged 41)Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Burial place
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, King County, Washington 47°38′36″N 122°21′59″W / 47.64328°N 122.36626°W / 47.64328; -122.36626
Alma mater
Bothell High School
Occupation
Taxi driver
Known for
Heaviest person ever recorded (1,400 lb or 635 kg or 100 st)
Height
6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Spouses
mw- Carolyn Jean McArdle[a] (m. 1963; div. 1980) Shirley Ann Griffin (m. 1982)
Children
2

Tables

· References
Preceded byFrancis John Lang
Heaviest person ever recorded 1941–1983
Succeeded byNone

References

  1. While Minnoch was the heaviest person in history, Robert Earl Hughes (1926–1958) holds the record, according to Guinness
  2. This record was surpassed by the Saudi Arabian man Khalid bin Mohsen Shaari, who lost 1,203 lb (546 kilograms; 86 stone)
  3. McArdle preferred to be called Jean.
  4. Bainbridge Island Review
    https://issuu.com/pnwmarketplace/docs/i20141125162002729
  5. Certificate of Death
    https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/DigitalObject/Download/e91486d8-3997-43dd-a2b1-b4c3e6cfa3f7
  6. Functional Biochemistry in Health and Disease
    https://books.google.com/books?id=L24t58739VIC
  7. Secrets of the Sideshows
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jcf40
  8. New Zealand Herald
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/worlds-heaviest-teen-khaled-mohsen-al-shaeri-reveals-dramatic-weight-loss/XBJ67MXZM2QCSSY3QYHVSTYBTM/
  9. Washington State Digital Archives
    https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/2E8D75881804E8F0D735985BF4BFBA75
  10. Washington State Digital Archives
    https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/3F30535E0B3B4980C885770E81579B66
  11. The Pig: A Natural History
    https://books.google.com/books?id=BBSLDwAAQBAJ
  12. The Bellingham Herald
  13. Kitsap Sun
  14. Ogden Standard Examiner
  15. Deseret News
    https://books.google.com/books?id=ho0zAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22peter+minnoch%22&pg=PA5&article_id=5910,2155931
  16. Fat Chemistry: The Science behind Obesity
    https://books.google.com/books?id=mGsoDwAAQBAJ
  17. The Journal of Popular Culture
    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpcu.12509
  18. The American Journal of Cardiology
    https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/000291499190770L
  19. Endocrine Secrets
    https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B9781455749751000711
  20. Obesity
    https://books.google.com/books?id=pHlUDwAAQBAJ
  21. Ellensburg Daily Record
    https://books.google.com/books?id=UoJUAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22John+minnoch%22&pg=PA1&article_id=6473,1211318
  22. Fat, Gluttony and Sloth: Obesity in Medicine, Art and Literature
    https://archive.org/details/fatgluttonysloth0000hasl/page/32/mode/2up?q=%22minnoch%22
  23. The Cougar
    https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Jon_Minnoch&event=_washington-usa_50&name_x=1_1&successSource=Search&queryId=ccf72fabdd8624b6f50466e4f1df6784
  24. Wisconsin State Journal
    https://newspaperarchive.com/celebrity-clipping-jul-07-1979-3906365/
  25. English: A page from Snohomish County Government mug book, 1960-1964
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jon_Brower_Minnoch_mug_shot.jpg
  26. Guinness World Records
    https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/71291-greatest-weight-differential-married-couple
  27. Washington State Digital Archives
    https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/6D441D1AEBF945ED59325B0498C4D765
  28. Guinness Book of World Records: 1990
    https://books.google.com/books?id=EKSHvbY5howC
  29. Madison Capital Times
    https://newspaperarchive.com/celebrity-clipping-mar-30-1978-3906584/
  30. Britannica Book of the Year
    https://archive.org/details/1980britannicabo00daum/mode/2up
  31. Mathematics Today
    https://cdn.ima.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/MT_2010_The_Problem_of_Obesity.pdf
  32. Gettysburg Times
    https://newspaperarchive.com/celebrity-clipping-apr-05-1978-3906356/
  33. Guinness World Records
    https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/heaviest-man/
  34. The Boston Globe
    https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-world-records/125491726/
  35. Evening Independent
    https://books.google.com/books?id=52ZQAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA9
  36. The Desert Sun
    https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19830916.2.33&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------
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