Gertrude Baines

Gertrude Baines
Birth:	6 April 1894 Shellman, Georgia, USA
Death:	11 September 2009 Los Angeles, California, USA
Age:	115 years, 158 days
Country:	USA
Validated

Gertrude Baines (6 April 1894 – 11 September 2009) was an American supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in the world from the death of Maria de Jesus on 2 January 2009 until her own death eight months later.

Born in Shellman, Georgia, she recalled that her first memory was that of being in a car ride to Canada. She later married Sam Conly at a "very young age" and had a daughter, Annabelle, who died of typhoid fever at age 18. Baines lived at the Western Convalescent Home in Jefferson Park, Los Angeles when she died.^[1] She lived on her own until she was 105. When she was 112 said she had never had a seriously sick day in her life but, in July 2009, she was hospitalized.

When asked what she credited to her longevity, she answered, "God. Ask him... I took good care of myself, the way he wanted me to."^[2]

Baines, a daughter of former slaves, cast a vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 US presidental elections. The only time she voted before was for John F. Kennedy.^[3]

On 11 November 2008, Baines surpassed Carrie Lazenby's (1882–1996) record of (114 years, 218 days), to become the oldest person ever who was born in the state of Georgia.

Baines was the last living person verified to have been born in 1894, and one of the 30 longest-lived persons ever.

She became the oldest living African American following the death of Arbella Ewing on 22 March 2008, and the oldest living person in the United States following the death of Edna Parker on 26 November 2008.

References

• Gerontology Research Group