Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

California woman in line as world's oldest

|
|
 
  
Published: Jan. 3, 2009 at 3:04 PM

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A perky 114-year-old Los Angeles woman is in line to be named the world's oldest woman, Guinness World Records says.

Gertrude Baines was born to former slaves in Georgia in 1894 and lived much of her life in Ohio, working as a house mother at a state college before divorcing and moving to Los Angeles, where she now lives in a nursing home, CNN reported Saturday. Her only child, a daughter, died at age 18 of typhoid fever, CNN said.

Baines, who voted for Barack Obama for president, said only God knows why she has lived so long. "Ask him. I took good care of myself, the way he wanted me to," Baines said.

The world's previous oldest woman was 115-year-old Maria de Jesus, who died this week in Portugal, Guinness World Records said, noting it must first complete a routine investigation before crowning the next world's oldest woman.

Topics: Gertrude Baines, Guinness World Records
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Odd News Stories
Your Daily Horoscope
The almanac
1 of 20
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visited in Washington
View Caption
Veterans etch the names of their friends inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War on May 26, 2012 in Washington, DC. More than 58,000 names of the servicemen who were killed or missing in the war are engraved on The Wall. UPI/Pat Benic
fark
The more an individual knows about science, the less likely they are to be believers in "global...
When you're 90 years old, you probably wish some nice young lady will come by your house so you...
The best cliff bound monasteries/zombie fortresses
Denver's solution for motorists who refuse to pull over for emergency vehicles: BASS
Never bring a pitchfork to a gunfight
Hi, I'm a stupid idiot. Please come rob me