Manchester, N.H. (AP) -- A 114-year-old New Hampshire woman is believed to be the oldest person in the United States and the second-oldest in the world following Friday's death of a 115-year-old California woman.
The New Hampshire Union Leader says Mary Josephine Ray, who lives in a nursing home in Westmoreland, turned 114 on May 17.
According to the Gerontology Research Group, which tracks claims of extreme old age, the only person known to be older is Kama Chinen of Japan, who was born seven days before Ray.
Gertrude Baines held the title of the world's oldest person before her death on Friday in Los Angeles.
Ray's granddaughter, Katherine Ray, told the Union Leader that Ray's pleasures include the Boston Red Sox, Hershey's Kisses and ice cream.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
