Oldest American dies at 114

[babylonsister]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6273ZB20100308

Oldest American dies at 114
Mon Mar 8, 2010 10:40am EST



BOSTON (Reuters) - Mary Josephine Ray, a sports-loving card-player who was the oldest person living in the United States, died on Sunday at the age of 114.

Ray, who was born before Henry Ford built his first car or Marconi patented the radio, died at Maplewood Nursing Home in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, where she had lived since the age of 101, Steven Wilson, the home's activity director, said.

Born on May 17, 1895 in Canada, Ray was the world's second-oldest person according to the Gerontology Research Group, which maintains a registry of the oldest people. It says Kama Chinen of Japan was born seven days before Ray.

According to the group's website, the oldest American is now Neva Morris of Iowa, born August 3, 1895.

Ray was a big sports fan -- particularly of the Boston Red Sox baseball team -- and liked to play cards, particularly rummy, which she played at least twice a week, Wilson said.

"Mary would always win, one way or another," Wilson said.

She outlived her husband, Walter Ray, by more than 40 years and is survived by two sons, eight grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.

[geardaddy]

1. She was born the same year as my grandma. n/t

[BurtWorm]

2. They're dropping like flies,

I think we lost another oldest American just about a year ago.

:patriot:

May they rest in peace.

[MinneapolisMatt]

3. Wow.

What a life!

[joeybee12]

4. Well, I'm glad she lived to see the Red Sox win in 2004...

RIP.

[Zomby Woof]

5. She was 23 the previous time they won before 2004

Which puts her longevity in perspective.

Imagine if she was told back then she'd have to live to be 109 to see them win again, lol.

[joeybee12]

9. My father was born in 1919...he was 85 when he finally got to see

them win!

[Arugula Latte]

6. I wonder how many people on this planet who were born pre-1900 are still alive.

This stuff is fascinating. She was already a middle-aged woman when WWII broke out.

[Canuckistanian]

7. ...and she became a senior citizen in 1961

That's what I call long-lived.

[RagAss]

17. Before Medicare

[Zomby Woof]

8. 3 centuries and 21 presidents

She was born when Grover Cleveland was serving his second term.

8 years old when the Wright Brothers achieved success with powered flight.

An adult at the age of 19 when WW1 broke out in Europe.

50 when the world entered the Atomic Age in 1945.

68 when JFK was assassinated.

106 on 9/11.

113 when Obama was elected, the 21st president in her lifetime. 43 men have served as president, so she lived just under half of them.


:toast: Here's to her long life!

[Motown_Johnny]

10. So, if born in 1895 she was....

8 when the Wright Brothers first flew

44 when Hitler invaded Poland

74 when we first landed on the moon

85 when Reagan was elected

105 for y2k

113 for the election of our first AA president



This kind of thing always amazes me.


There is a saying that is commonly accepted as a curse, "May he live in interesting times". A curse? I respectfully disagree.

[ParkieDem]

11. Wow.

This just shows how much the world progressed in the 20th (and early 21st) century.

Just think: The Wright Brothers invented the airplane in 1903. Just 66 years later -- the blink of an eye in the course of human history -- man landed on the moon.

When Ms. Ray was born, the Pony Express was still around - it was basically a delivery service that could take weeks (even months), much like the delivery service developed by the ancient Persian Empire. Now, you can have a package delivered anywhere in the world overnight (or two nights, depending on the time zone).

I don't know if mankind will ever have another century like the 20th century.

[happyslug]

18. The Actual "Pony Express" lasted 1 1/2 years 1860-1861, and the Post Office still uses Mules

For more on the Pony express see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express

For more on the continued use of Mules by the Postal Service see:
http://www.ceol.com/vvpo/history.html#MULE

[Behind the Aegis]

12. We share the same birthday...74 years apart!

I hope she had a wonderful life! RIP

[texanwitch]

13. My Grandparents would have been about that same age.

The things this woman has seen.

[4_TN_TITANS]

14. I simply cannot wrap my head around

all the changes that woman has seen during her lifetime.

[gratuitous]

15. Have the Republicans blamed Obamacare yet?

If not, they soon will.

And we all move up one notch toward being the world's oldest person.

[jimlup]

16. 114 seems to be the upper limit