NATIONAL BRIEFING
A 114-year-old New Hampshire woman who loves the Boston Red Sox, Hershey’s Kisses and ice cream is now believed to be the oldest American.
Mary Josephine Ray secured the title after the death Friday of Gertrude Baines, 115, in Los Angeles.
According to the Gerontology Research Group, which tracks claims of extreme old age, the only person in the world known to be older is Kama Chinen of Japan. Chinen was born May 10, 1895, seven days before Ray.
When Ray became the world’s third-oldest person in August, she was asked by the New Hampshire Union Leader what she thought of her long life.
She told the paper: “It was so long ago, I don’t remember much about it.”
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