Western Convalescent Hospital residents attend worship services. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Nannie Brown, 95, plays bingo at Western Convalescent Hospital. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
The key to longevity is a persons genes, doctors say. The oldest recorded person in history lived to be 122. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Reporters interview Gertrude Baines at Western Convalescent Hospital after the death of Maria de Jesus in Portugal made her the oldest person in the world. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Gertrude Baines, 114, rests quietly in her room. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Nannie Brown, 95, reads her Bible during worship services. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Heroldine Finnie, 90, plays bingo. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Dorena Huey, left, and Nannie Brown, 95 go to play bingo. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Gertrude Baines, 114, poses with her certificates and photos. She talks about Shellman, Ga., her hometown; about her father, an ardent Democrat believed to have been be a slave; about riding to church on Sundays in a horse and buggy. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Azlee Ross, 85, looks out the window at Western Convalescent Hospital, where one of the fellow residents is Gertrude Baines, 114. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
