They Love the Dance, Exercise, Companionship

The Upbeat Liners at the Pascagoula Senior Center strut their stuff during an annual Christmas celebration and retirement party.

Apollo 11: Memories and Today's Machines

PASCAGOULA -- Since late last week Americans have been gearing up to mark today's 40th anniversary of the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon, most with excitement, a few with mixed feelings.

The trip was every kid's dream of finding out if the sphere really was made of green cheese.

Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins didn't find cheese, but they did put themselves and the United States into history books throughout the world.

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," said Armstrong after making that initial step.

Just as she did then, 40 years later Joahan McDole of Gautier wonders what good has come of the moon landing and space exploration in general. She thinks she's outside the norm when it comes to America's excitement over travel to the moon.

"I just remember it was in the middle of the Vietnam War," she said today. "I remember sitting there on the floor and watching it with a group of friends."

McDole was 22 years old when she watched the live broadcast of the lunar landing July 20, 1969, with neighbors at her apartment building. It was a Sunday night and most of America was gathered around their television sets to watch the technological event, sponsored by NASA.

She'd just graduated that year from the University of Southern Mississippi. She later went on to live in Scotland and the Middle East.

"I still wondered, then and now, why do we even want to go to the moon?" McDole said. "I don't see us moving any great mass of people to the moon.

The real estate agent believes the astronauts, engineers and scientists involved in America's space program are people of great minds, but she does not have that kind of interest. Calling herself a realist rather than a visionary, she's more interested in the present.

"It's 40 years later. I have no objection that we do it, but I don't know what it's doing for mankind," said McDole.

The Gautier resident, who is age 62, is not alone in her questioning of the purpose of the space progam and the trips to the moon, which included at least four more moon landings. President John Kennedy declared in 1961 that America would land a man on the moon but the end of the decade.

Several women from The View on the ABC Network have wondered the same thing that has gone through McDole's mind. Elizabeth Hasselbeck said the research by NASA has yield such technological advances as invisible braces, long distance telecommunications, water filters and kidney dialysis.

According to www.wikipedia.org, the Apollo Program was a human spaceflight program undertaken by NASA during the years 1961-1975 with the goal of conducting manned moon landing missions. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced a goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. It was accomplished on July 20, 1969, by the landing of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, with Michael Collins orbiting above during the Apollo 11 mission. Five subsequent Apollo missins also landed astronauts the moon, the last one in 1972. These six Apollo spaceflights are the only times humans have landed on another celestial body. The Apollo program, specifically the lunar landings, is often cited as the greatest technological achievement in human history.

According to www.history.com, which has been featuring space exploration programs today, a number of technological advances have come about, directly and indirectly, because of the trip to the moon. They include laptop computers, Cat scans, news broadcasting, and modern cameras.

All of today, newspaper articles and television, radio and websites have shown pictures, and live broadcasts and videos of the liftoff and landing of Apollo 11 on the moon. The footage comes from the CBS television Network, which originally broadcast the landing live.

The historical footage includes longtime news anchorman Walter Cronkite, who died July 17, three days before the anniversay of an event that was one of the defining moments of his career as a national broadcast reporter. He was 92 and will be buried Thursday, July 23.

Numerous events, ceremonies and talk shows have featured the three original astronauts of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, who are all in their 70s now. Buzz Aldrin would like to see a return to the moon, but Collins wants to go farther, on to Mars.

Interviews with Americans around the country yielded various responses of the moon walk:

"It was the greatest accomplishmnt in the history of the world."

"We are following in the footsteps of our generation."

"If we don't push against the frontier we will be like the Greeks and Romans. We will disappear."

Actress Gloria Stuart turns 99

Actress Gloria Stuart is among a number of celebrities who personally have a reason to celebrate the Fourth of July along with the rest of the country. Man, what it must be like to have the whole country officially celebrate your birth date with you. Extraordinary.

Stuart, ironically, had her most noted role today as a 100-year-old in the 1997 film Titanic, portraying storyteller Rose DeWitt Bukater.

Read Stuart's biography

www.wikipedia.org

Independence Day 2009 marks 233 years since America's Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence from British rule in 1776.

Ironically, in 1826, 50 years after signing the declaration, former Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4.

In 1959, 50 years ago today, a 49-star flag was unfurled to honor the statehood of Alaska; a year later in 1960, today's 50-star flag honored Hawaii's statehood.

Other celebrities, now senior citizens, who join other citizens also celebrating their birthday today include advice columnist Pauline Phillips, 91; actresses Eva Marie Saint, 85, and Gina Lollobrigida, 82; playwright Neil Simon, 82; baseball team owner George Steinbrenner, 79; singer Bill Withers, 71; broadcast journalist Geraldo Rivera, 66.

Stuart in Here Comes the Navy in 1934

There are several other celebrities who've made it to their fifties, but to remain true to the age-range of 99andbeyond, we will leave them unmentioned .... well, OK. Rhythm-and blues musician Ralph Johnson is 58. Rock musician Domingo Ortiz is 57. Singer John Waite is 54.

But that's the last name ....aaaahhhh .... Malia Obama made 11 years old today.

GriefShare Lets Hurting Grieve Together

PASCAGOULA -- Sandra Sumrall said there are always men present at the weekly meetings of GriefShare.

They are young and old, from teenagers to senior citizens. Some are single, some married, and some single again after the loss of their spouses.

Sumrall, coordinator of GriefShare, notes the number of males because they are not the people society normally prescribes as needing consolation. Men are not expected to cry, she said.

"We always have men," said Sumrall. "There's always been young men in the class. There's always been old men in the class. "They hurt as badly as we do. It's not always acceptable for them to cry, and so they keep coming."

The average attendance is about 10, but ranges from six to 20 participants at any one time. Participation, usually about two-thirds women, grows as the class progresses.

GriefShare participants come from all walks of life. They've lost spouses, siblings, children, parents, grandparents, and others.

"The meetings are for everyone who has lost a loved one," said Sumrall.

Family members have died from a variety of reasons - vehicle wrecks, diseases, suicides, etc.

GriefShare, which takes place at First Methodist Church in Pascagoula, last two hours during its weekly sessions. The spring class runs from January to May, the spring sessions from August to November.

Sumrall said the meetings allow residents to work through the grieving process.

"What many people find helpful is talking with other people. Many people don't understand people who are grieving," said Sumrall. "They think they ought to get over it and get on with life."

GriefShare members share their grieving processes with each other, including celebrations and memorials that mark the life and loss of family and friends. Some members have special ways to observe birthdays, or conduct activities that help them remember loved one no longer living.

"What works for one person doesn't work for another," said Sumrall.

The most recent group of GriefShare participants have formed a very tight group, she said, and are still meeting through this summer, though official meetings restart in early August.

"They are by no means over the grieving," Sumrall said. "They saw the benefit of being together. They have come to depend on each other. They have cookouts over the summer."

GriefShare meets each Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. Residents needing the companionship and help of GriefShare may contact First Methodist Church in Pascagoula at 762-5222, or e-mail Sandra Sumrall at masonsumrall@cableone.net

Millvina Dean: Last Titanic Survivor Dies

The last survivor of the Titanic died May 31, 2009, at age 97.

According to www.wikipedia. org, Elizabeth Gladys Millvina Dean was about nine weeks old when the RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg the night of April 14, 1912, going down nearly three hours later in frigid waters. She was the youngest passenger, along with her older brother, Bertram Vere, who was two years old.

Dean became the last survivor when Barbara West Dainton, 96, died in October 2007.

Dean was born Feb. 2, 1912, in London to parents Bertram Frank Dean and Georgette Eva Light, who were on their way to America to open a tobacco shop in Kansas. Frank Dean was among those who died that night; Georgette Light later returned to England.

Dean's brother was born in 1910 and died in 1992. Dean never married and had no children, according to www.wikipedia.org.

Photo by www.wipedia.org

Mary Bang, 103

VANCLEAVE -- Mary Bang had numerous caregivers at the end of her life, family and friends alike.

Sunday marked the second anniversary those loved ones have been without her presence.

Mrs. Bang, who was 103, died Thursday, May 24, 2007, at her residence in Demopolis, Ala. She was born April 18, 1904.

She had lived in Demopolis for the past nine years and was a former resident of Vancleave, Miss., where she was a member of the Holiness Church of God in Vancleave.

Survivors include her caregivers -- Versa and Bud Simmons, Katie Simmons, Whittni Simmons, Rogerdale Richard Forehand and his wife, April, and Hunter and Moriah Fielder, all of Demopolis, Ala., along with many other family and friends.

Graveside services were held at Vancleave Holiness Church of God Cemetery on Poticaw Road in Vancleave with Brother Sammy Thomley officiating.

The Ocean Springs Chapel of Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home handled service and burial arrangements. View the obituary at www.bradfordokeefe.com

Gertrude Baines -- Oldest Person in World

Since Jan. 2, Gertrude Baines of Los Angeles has been listed as the verified oldest living person in the world. She lives in a nursing home in Los Angeles, Calif.

As a supercentenarian, Baines was born April 6, 1894, in Shellman, Ga., and as of today is 115 years, 49 days. She lived on her own until age 105, and this year celebrated her birthday at the Western Convalescent Home in Jefferson ParK, Los Angeles.

Baines was preceded by Maria de Jesus of Portugal, who had lived to 115 years, 114 days until her death Jan. 2, 2009. de Jesus had lived at home in Corujo, Tomar.

Check the list of living supercentenarians.

Mearly Ratliff and 1893

GULFPORT -- Just ran across an old set of obituaries that featured a gentleman reported to have been 111 years old when he passed away in May 2005.

Wow!

The obit failed to mention an exact date for the death of Mearly Ratliff, but it said he was born Nov. 10, 1893, in Tylertown, Miss. So was American novelist John P. Marquand, who died in 1960.

A little over a month later, on Dec. 26, Chinese leader Mao Zedong was born. He died in 1976.

During that year, on Jan. 17, the U.S. Marines intervened in Hawaii, resulting in the overthrow of the government of Queen Liliuokalani. On Feb. 1, Thomas A. Edison finished construction of the first motion picture studio in West Orange, N.J.

President Benjamin Harris was succeeded by Stephen Grover Cleveland on March 4; the first recorded college basketball game was played April 8, 1893, in Beaver Fall, Pa., between the Geneva College Covenanters and the New Brighton YMCA; The 1893 World's Fair, also known as the World's Columbian Expostion, opened to the public in Chicago on May1. It closed Oct.

On May 10, the United States Supreme Court legally declared the tomato to be a vegetable. Actually, it's a fruit.

More historical events, births and deaths during 1893 may be found at www.wikipedia.org.

Interestingly enough, searches for information about another centenarian yielded a site that named Mr. Ratliff and a number of others beyond 99 years on a Table of False and Exaggerated Claims.

So there's some doubt?

Proven? Unproven? by the Table. Or is the Table itself false in its claim?

Curious.

And this site has, at this point, made no claim either way. We can only report what was written in the obit found in a reputable publication in South Mississippi.

According to the obituary, Mr. Ratliff was a member of Mt. Bethel Baptist Church in Gulfport. He was retired as a laborer from the railroad where he worked for about 35 years.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Pearly Ratliff, parents York Ratliff and Ada Danosas Ratliff, son R.C. Ratliff, and 22 siblings.

That many brothers and sisters deserve a Wow! all by themselves.

In 2005, Ratliff's survivors included sons Elder Henry Ratliff and John Henry Ratliff, both of Houston, Texas; seven daughters including Arvyzena (Otha) Sallis, Bertha Hudnall, Ernesting Edwards, Gladys Herrien, Bobbie Briggs, all of Gulfport, and Christina Briggs and Mearline Dugar, also of Houston, Texas, and 38 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, eight great-great-grandchildren, and one great-great-great-grandchild.

Funeral services were held May 26, 2005, at New Home Church of Christ Holiness USA in Jayess, Miss., with burial at the church cemetery.

Caring For Elderly Relatives…A Little Understanding Goes a Long Way

PASCAGOULA -- Eighty percent of men and women over age 65 are healthy and able to manage their own lives. In fact, many remain very active.

Most of the 20% who are not healthy are over age 75. About 5% of the elderly are in institutions, nursing homes, or homes for the aged at any given time.

Understanding Loss

If there’s one word that’s common to people who have lived a long life – it’s loss. They’ve said so many goodbyes.

They’ve said goodbye to their youth, possibly their health, and probably their work life. They may also have said goodbye to financial security, home and possessions, loved ones, parents, a spouse, siblings, life long friends.

It’s the accumulation of these losses that can overwhelm an elderly person. You may see anger, sadness, and anxiety about the future: These are all perfectly normal and therapeutic

reactions.

Don’t feel you always have to “put on a happy face.” When we are always cheery and don’t allow very ill or older people to express losses and grief, we deny them an opportunity to talk about what’s real and important to them.

‘Odd’ behavior is often OK. While frustrating to family members, the behaviors listed below are perfectly rational to the elderly person trying to keep some measure of control over his or her life. In short, they’re coping mechanisms.

5 Important things to keep in mind:

1. As people age, they don’t automatically become “sweet little old ladies or men” unless they were “sweet” before.

2. Admit that the person complaining about aching joints today is the same one who complained about other things when he or she was younger.

3. Understand that aging affects people in different ways (i.e., some people won’t consider wearing a hearing aid while others take it in stride).

4. Be considerate. It’s very common for hairdressers, health-care professionals, bankers, etc., to speak “across” the elderly person to the caregiver. When you see this happening, refer the question to your elderly relative. “Mother, when did that pain begin – why don’t you tell the nurse about it.”

5. Trust your relatives to know their own minds. Talk adult-to-adult when speaking to older relatives. Let them make their own choices.

If your relative resists your help, just keep reinforcing that you’ll be there if needed. Have a plan in place for when your help is accepted.

 Realize that care giving is not about taking control of others' lives, but helping them through some difficult changes.

 Have family "talks" in person or by phone. Include the person who needs care, siblings, and anyone else who would be able to help. Talk about "what ifs.”

 Sketch out plans for helping your relative to: 1) stay at home; 2) down-size to a smaller house or apartment; 3) stay with one or more of you (although one person's home is best); and 4) begin to adjust to the idea of a long-term care facility.

- Identify your elderly relative's current support system.

doctor, pharmacist, lawyer, banker, church or temple, friends, neighbors, or in-home helpers. Express your thanks and ask them to call you if something is amiss.

- Check your library and bookstores for the many books on care giving. The library may have a copy of a timeless and helpful article appearing in Modern Maturity (August/September 1987).

 Find help for paperwork (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, insurance forms, etc.). A social worker from your relative's hospital, or someone from AARP or your area agency on aging could offer invaluable help.

Start a 3-ring notebook:

1. Use dividers for health information, housing, service providers, financial/legal supportive friends and neighbors, and to-do lists.

2. Find an inexpensive wall calendar, punch holes, and insert it in your notebook for keeping track of doctor’s appointments, etc.

3. Take note of your relative’s physical condition, emotional situations, how he or she spends time and medications. Take the notes to doctor appointments.

4. List numbers: your relative’s social security, medical ID, insurance plan and emergency numbers.

5. Keep track of insurance policies and medical bills. Take note whether insurance policies cover home health care or prescription drugs.

6. List any adaptive devices. Hearing aids? Bifocals? Cane? Walker? Note phone numbers of your relative’s audiologist (hearing specialist), optometrist, and medical supply company.

If you need more information to assist you when caring for elderly relatives or friends, contact Bettye Wadsworth, Child and Family Development Area extension agent, at 228-769-3047, or bettyew@ext.msstate.edu .

Margaret "Peg" Roberts Tremmel

Always like to give teachers their due. So this older obit caught my attention about a former teacher at St. Theresa's in D'Iberville who died at 100 years old.

Margaret "Peg" Roberts Tremmel of Biloxi passed away March 6, 2007.

She was a native of Little Rock, Ark., and a resident of Biloxi for over 75 years. Mrs. Tremmel received her first communion at St. Mary's Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

She attended Georgetown Visitation High School in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Gulf Park Junior College for Women and taught physical education for four years. There she met and married Louis Tremmel Sr, a union that last over 50 years.

After raising a family she went back to teaching and taught third grade at St. Theresa's in D'Iberville for eight years. She was a member of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral and a member of the Nativity Altar Society.

She was an active volunteer for the Biloxi Regional Memorial Hospital for over 25 years. She was a member of the Azalea Garden Club, The Legion of Mary, a charter member Billikens, and a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy Biloxi Chapter 623.

Tremmel was preceded in death by husband Louis August Tremmel Sr., daughter Margaret Cunningham Tremmel Peresich, parents Burdette and Sarah Murphy Roberts, brothers Gus and Burt Roberts, and sister Catherine Roberts. Her mother's family were pioneers in the state of Arkansas.

Tremmel, at her death in 2007, left four children: Louis August Tremmel Jr., Sarah Roberts Pitalo, Mary Ott Davison and Burt August Tremmel Sr., 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandson.

Funeral services were conducted at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and burial was at Southern Memorial Park. Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home was in charge of funeral services.

Thelma Inez Smoot

Mrs. Thelma Inez Smoot, 101, was a native of Portland, Ore., where she was born Dec. 5, 1907.  She died March 9, 2009. 

She moved to Imperial Valley, Calif., with her family in 1914, where she lived until relocating to Ocean Springs in 1997. 

Smoot's husband, John Magruder Smoot, whom she lived with 52 years, parents Frank and Vivian Nutbrown, brother Richard Nutbrown, sister Alna Simmons,  and grandson Robert John Graetz all preceded her in death.  

Survivors include daughter Phyllis Jean Luter, granddaughter Jerilyn (Wayne) Henry, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. 

Smoot spent the last days of her life in a Vancleave personal care home operated by Karen Richards, Aileen Dewberry and Jessie Bang. 

Interment is at Evergreen Cemetery in Ocean Springs, where services were rendered by Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home. 

Camp Bluebird deadline March 6

March 6 is the deadline for campers and volunteers to apply for this spring's Camp Bluebird, the semi-annual weekend retreat for adult cancer survivors. 

The camp will be held March 27 - 29 at the USM Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs. 

Applications are available at the Regional Cancer Center at Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula and at Ocean Springs Hospital. Residents may call 228-809-5251 or 228-809-CAMP(2267).

Camp Bluebird, held each spring and fall, offers cancer survivors an opportunity to share experiences and support each other for one to three days during the event.  

Information provided by Singing River Health System. 

Hazel Lamey Brown Robinson

Hazel Lamey Brown Robinson, 99, of Biloxi died of natural causes on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008.

Hazel was a life member of First Baptist Church of Biloxi. She also participated in Order of the Eastern Star, Women in Construction (WIC), Sun Kist Garden Club, 8/40 Club, and American Legion Auxiliary.

Robinson was owner of Brown Sand & Gravel Co. and involved in the original construction of the old Spanish Trail (now U.S. 90 -- Beach Blvd), original shell roads -- New Orleans to Venice in Louisiana -- and roads and runways at Keesler Air Force Base. She was involved in many other real estate business entities on the Gulf Coast.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, Bernal Brown, second husband Edgar O. Robinson, mother Elsie Irma Krohn, sister Josephine Bell, brothers Buddy and John Lamey, and daughter Eula Lee Brown Reneer.

Survivors included brother Clayton Brown, grandchildren Janice Rhea Winans, Russell Brown Reneer and his wife Barbara, Bernal Vincent Reneer and his wife Mary; great-grandchildren Brandy King, Amanda Winans, Amanda Reneer, Emily Reneer and Cole Reneer; and great-great grandson Jared King.

Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Homes in Biloxi handled funeral visitation and service. Interment is at Biloxi City Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers the family asked for donations to the American Cancer Society, 182-A DeBuys Road, Biloxi, MS 39531.

Annie A. Curtis

Discovered an obit today for Annie A. Curtis, who passed away May 6, 2007. The surprise came when learning that Jan. 26 was her birthdate.  

She was born in 1908 and was 99 at the time of her death in Ocean Springs.  

How blessed is that, to be able to honor her memory on her birthday, and the wisdom she brought to those around her. According to the obituary, Curtis was born in the Daisy Vestry community. She moved away and lived in several states before returning to South Mississippi. 

Annie Curtis, who had been married to the late Bruce Curtis, was a devoted nurse and special aunt to her many nephews and nieces. She was a longtime member of St. Paul Methodist Church in Ocean Springs. 

Preceding her own passing were her parents, Joseph and Matilda Jane Hawley, one sister and five brothers.  

Through the years Annie A. Curtis saw numerous changes in the world. Let's see what they were.

Jan. 26, 1908 -- Birthday of Stephane Grappelli, British jazz/violinist

Jan. 26, 1918 -- President Hoover calls for "wheatless" and "meatless" days for war effort 

Jan. 26, 1928 -- No information found.

Jan. 26, 1938 -- No information found.

Jan. 26, 1948 --Executive Order 9981, end segregation in U.S. Armed Forces signed; Ignaz Friedman, composer, dies at 65 

Jan. 26, 1958 --H Laskow replaces Moshe Dayan on as Israeli minister of Defense; Jack Smith takes over for Art Baker as TV host of "You Asked for It": Marlene Hagge wins LPGA Lake Worth Open Golf Invitational 

Jan. 26, 1968 --Israeli submarine Dakar crashes in Mediterranean Sea, 69 die; Death of Weegee and Arthur Fellig, both American photographers, and Kenneth Scott Latourette, American historian. 

Jan. 26, 1978 --Strikers riot in Tunisia, killing about 40; Mario Soares forms Portuguese government; International Ultraviolet Explorer placed in Earth orbit; Frank Herbert completes his novel "Destination: Void"; Leo Genn, actor (Lady Chatterley's Lover, Henry V), dies at 72 

Jan. 26, 1988 --Australia's 200th anniversary-parade of tall ships in Sydney Harbor; "Phantom of the Opera" opens at Majestic Theater New York City for 4,000+ performances; Death of Raymond Williams, Welsh novelist.

Jan. 26, 1998 -- Intel launches 333 MHz Pentium II chip; President Clinton says "I want to say one thing to the American people I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky"; 25th American Music Award: Spice Girls and Babyface win; Music educator Shinichi Suzuki "developed the ""Suzuki Method"" which taught violin to children", dies at 98; Walter Edmonds, writer (Drums Along the Mohawk), dies at 93 

May 06, 2007 -- 11 U.S. soldiers and a Russian journalist were in Iraq, six of them in Diyala when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle; Pro-American conservative Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president of France; a massive tornado obliterated most of Greensburg, Kansas, killing eight. Two others died elsewhere during weekend weather across the Plain states.

Access www.brainyhistory.com for information listed on this site.    

http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/january_26.html

http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1968/january_26_1968_134343.html

Pascagoula's New Senior Center Coming

PASCAGOULA -- Progress is moving right along for senior citizens to move into larger digs.

The facility located on Delmas Avenue in Downtown Pascagoula has long become too small for crowds of up to 60 residents who often fill the building intended to house about 40 people at a time,  center director Melani Caver told www.wlox.com

Sylvia Hall reported on seniors' anticipation of a new 14,000 square foot facility, which will be built on east Live Oak Avenue on grounds of the former public housing known commonly as Carver Village. The building is expected to be completed by fall. 

Residents who regularly participate in activities at the Pascagoula Senior Citizen Center are excited about the new building, which will include game rooms and new kitchen. The city's Program Manager  Jaci Turner said the new facility is an opportunity to meet the needs of its older population.   

Maria de Jesus

Until earlier this month the woman verified by the Guinness World Record as the oldest person in the world passed away.

Just a day after the New Year, Jan. 2, Maria de Jesus died in Portugal, where she had lived on the land her entire life.

The supercentenarian was born Sept. 10, 1893, in Olival, Ourem, and had lived 115 years, 114 days before she died in Corujo, Tomar.

Maria de Jesus married Jose dos Santos in 1919; they had five children before he died in 1951. She left behind 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren, according to www.wikipedia.org

Since Jan. 2, Gertrude Baines, at age 115, is now listed as the verified oldest living person in the world. She lives in a nursing home in Los Angeles, Calif.

Dora Creel's family celebrates her 104th birthday

WIGGINS -- Dora Creel's family recently celebrated her 104th year during a birthday bash at the Azalea Gardens Nursing Center. 

                                                                                                                                                  Read story at WLOX-TV 13 

Maxine S. Foster

Mrs. Maxine S. Foster, 99, of Biloxi died Friday, Jan. 09, 2009.

Arrangements were handled by Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home at Howard Avenue in Biloxi.

105-old-year old celebrates in Gautier

A good time was had by all. 

That was the celebration mantra among residents of River Chase Village senior center in Gautier over the weekend. 

They and the family of Booker T. Gatlin celebrated his birthday in high style. Good food, good fun. 

Gatlin, who grew up in Jefferson Davis County , turned 105.  He was born Jan. 4, 1904.

Amazing.    

Read full story: Press-Register at www. gulflive.com (Archives)