oldest american dies at 114 or 115

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Oldest American Dies at 114
By DAVID PORTER, AP

TRENTON, N.J. (Oct. 5) - Elena Slough, documented as the nation's oldest person, died Sunday at the nursing home where her daughter died three days before. She was 114 or 115, according to different sources.



Elena Slough, right, with daughter Wanda Allen (AP)

Slough died in her sleep at the Victoria Manor Nursing Home, where she and her 90-year-old daughter, Wanda Allen, lived, according to Judy Moudy, a supervisor at the Lower Township facility.

The Gerontology Research Group said Slough was born on July 8, 1889, making her 114 years old at the time of her death. But Krista Rickards, director of marketing at Victoria Manor, said Slough's son had a 1930 document that listed his mother as being born in 1888, which would have made her 115.

What is not in dispute is that Slough had been the oldest person in the United States since April, when 113-year-old Mary Dorothy Christian died in San Pablo, Calif. Christian was born on June 2, 1889.

''(Slough) is the oldest living American as of the time she died,'' Dr. L. Stephen Coles, executive director of the Gerontology Research Group, said Sunday.

The organization, which is affiliated with the UCLA School of Medicine, maintains a Web site of the oldest people alive. Three different types of documentation - birth or baptismal certificates, marriage certificates and census data - are used to verify ages.

According to the organization's Web site, Slough was the third-oldest living person in the world. Kamato Hongo turned 116 last month, and Mitoyo Kawate turned 114 in May. Both are Japanese.

The oldest person on record was Jeanne Calment, a Frenchwoman who was 122 when she died in 1997.

Slough, who was born Elena Rodenbaugh in a log cabin in Horsham, Pa., lived through 21 presidents and seven U.S. wars.


10-05-03 21:00 EDT
 
:shock: Wow...that's pretty old! :) An elderly Australian Digger (soldier slang) recently died a couple of weeks back and he was 107

Frank McDonald - oldest digger

Luck finally runs out for the oldest digger

August 25, 2003

"I should have been killed a dozen times but I wasn't" . . . Frank MacDonald in 2001, and, left, as a young soldier.

A state funeral for Australia's oldest World War I veteran, Frank MacDonald, who died in Tasmania on Saturday aged 107, will be held this week.

Mr MacDonald died of pneumonia after being admitted to hospital in Burnie a fortnight ago after he fell and broke his hip.

The Tasmanian Premier, Jim Bacon, said a state funeral would be held late this week. "This is the end of a significant era in Tasmania, as Frank was the last World War I veteran," Mr Bacon said.

Mr MacDonald, from Ulverstone, was awarded the Military Medal for "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in action" in Belgium on October 12, 1917.

Despite taking part in many big operations with the all-Tasmanian 40th Battalion in France and Belgium, most notably at Morlancourt in March 1918, he was never wounded, which was remarkable for an infantryman.

"I'm too pig-headed to die," the former corporal said several years ago. "I should have been killed a dozen times, but I wasn't. I had 10 times as much luck as any man is entitled to."
He did not finish the war completely unscathed. He was gassed three times, suffered bouts of fever and his hearing was damaged.

His biographer, Barry Wood, said: "He couldn't stand the silence; it was deafening to him after the sound of the shells in the trenches for years. He had insomnia and nerves as a direct side-effect of the war."

He said Mr MacDonald, who served in army administration during World War II, believed fate had marked him out to survive.

"There was a very moving incident for him, where he had just stepped out of the battalion headquarters when he noticed two lieutenants talking to each other.

"He was walking towards them when a German shell exploded and the lieutenant directly in front of him took the full brunt of the force and fell back dead into his arms. From that moment he knew he would survive the war."

Mr MacDonald was recommended for a bar to his Military Medal for rescuing a mate under fire at Clery-sur-Somme in 1918, but this was never conferred.

In 1998 the French ambassador flew to Tasmania to present him with France's highest military honour, the Legion of Honour.

The Tasmanian RSL president, Ian Kennett, said Mr MacDonald's death meant only six known World War I veterans remained.

"He was very humble; he couldn't understand all the fuss over himself being 107 and putting him up on a pedestal. But I believe that is where all World War I veterans should be."

Mr MacDonald married late in life and had no children. When his wife, Lilian, died in 1978 he moved in with his great-niece, Phyllis Gleeson, then into an aged-care home last November

AAP
 
Another one...which holds the Australian crown of the oldest in Australian nation. Alec Campbell -- :) He turned 111 last April, then passed away a month after. :(
 
Whoa... that's one old fart! I wouldn't want to live that old! Ugh!
 
I'd rather die young instead of sitting in a nursery home for the next 20 years.
 
None of my grandparents lived in nursing homes. One of my grandmothers lived to be 92 years old and she lived on her own house. She was healthy until the end. I think, if one took care of himself and stayed active in life, then he should not worry about being in a nursing home. My best friend's great grandparent lived on her own until about 96 years old, before finally deciding to live in a nursing home.

Moreover, in Utah, a lot of older people stay active and keep themselves stimulated with activities so they actually look younger and stay healthy until the end. Misery at old age is only a mindset.
 
I wouldn't mind dying that old, so people would remember me as the one who lived the longest. Just like Bicennential Man (the movie).
 
My grandparents in law -- they both live on a large 80 acre farm in Tyabb, near Country Victoria, they both are in their '80's. Grandpa still drives and he's nearly 87!
They both have led a very good life together and they're still going on strong these days! :thumb:
 
my great grandmother had died when she was 95 yrs old so she proablye one of the our relatives who has lived almost the longest than some others lol
 
of course, it seems that women live longer than men, don't you think?
 
Yeah, it's confirmed that women normally die way after their male counterparts have died.
But not in all cases, though. All my grandparents on both parents' sides have died at a young age. My mum's father died of a blood clot hemorragh (spelling) in the brain at age 57...mum's mum died of a stroke at age 64, Dad's father died at 35 of cirrohsis (alcholism disease of the liver) and dad's mum died at 83 (pretty old, yes, but was sick as well)
My own dad passed away at 53 from Colon Cancer in 1997...so it really depends on how healthy wise people are taking care of themselves, plus not having any natural disaster kill them or freak accidents and so forth.
 
What a guy! he lived almost 2 life times.

When a elderly person passes away, a library is lost.

God Bless Him
 
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