Oldest American Dies in Cape May County

Elena Slough, considered to be the nation's oldest person and the third oldest person in the world, died early Sunday morning. She was 114 or 115, according to different sources.

Slough died in her sleep at the Victoria Manor Nursing Home in Lower Township in Cape May County three days after her 90-year-old daughter, Wanda Allen, died at the same facility, according to Judy Moudy, a supervisor at the home.

Slough's exact age is in dispute. The Gerontology Research Group, a panel of university researchers with bases in Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York, said Slough was born on July 8, 1889, making her 114 years old at the time of her death.

Krista Rickards, director of marketing at Victoria Manor, said Slough's son, Eugene, had a 1930 census that listed his mother as being born in 1888, which would have made her 115.

What is not in dispute is that Slough was the oldest person in the United States. She inherited that title in April when 113-year-old Mary Dorothy Christian died in San Pablo, Calif. Christian was born on June 2, 1889.

Slough "is the oldest living American as of the time she died," Dr. L. Stephen Coles, executive director of the Gerontology Research Group, said Sunday.

The organization, which is affiliated with the UCLA School of Medicine, maintains a Web site of oldest living people. Three different types of documentation -- birth or baptismal certificates, marriage certificates and census data -- are used to verify ages.

According to the organization's Web site, Slough was the third oldest living person. Kamato Hongo turned 116 last month, and Mitoyo Kawate turned 114 in May. Both are Japanese.

With Slough's death, Charlotte Benkner of North Lima, Ohio, becomes the nation's oldest person and the third oldest living person, according to the Web site. The German-born woman will turn 114 on Nov. 16.

The oldest person on record was Jeanne Calment, a Frenchwoman who was 122 when she died in 1997.

Slough was born Elena Rodenbaugh in a log cabin in Horsham, Pa. During her lifetime, she lived through seven U.S. wars, 21 presidents and 12 U.S. territories gaining statehood.

In addition to her daughter, Slough had a son who is believed to reside in Oklahoma. A brother died in 1988 at 102.

Copyright 2003 by NBC 10. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Author: NBC10