From: Doug Skrecky (oberon@vcn.bc.ca)
Date: Fri Dec 31 1999 - 09:41:43 MST
CryoNet - Fri 31 Dec 1999
.c The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Sarah Knauss, listed in the Guinness Book of Records
as the world's oldest person, died Thursday at the age of 119, according to a
spokeswoman at the Allentown nursing home where she lived.
Knauss, who was 28 when Henry Ford introduced the Model T in 1908, apparently
died of natural causes at about 3 p.m., said Marcella Moyer Schick, executive
director of the Pheobe-Devitt Homes Foundation.
``She died quietly in her room. She was not ill,'' she said. ``They had
stopped in to see her just less than an hour before, and when the nurse went
back, she had passed away.''
Knauss, who was born Sept. 24, 1880, and lived a quiet life as a homemaker
and insurance office manager, found herself in the international spotlight
after the Guinness Book of Records declared her the world's oldest person in
1998 upon the death of Marie-Louise Febronie Meilleur of Quebec, who was 117.
``Sarah was an elegant lady and worthy of all the honor and adulation she has
received,'' said Joseph Hess, an administrator at the nursing home.
Knauss, born in the coal town of Hollywood, Pa., lived through seven U.S.
wars, the sinking of the Titanic and Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across
the Atlantic.
She was older than the Brooklyn Bridge and was born before the dedication of
the Statute of Liberty. She was 88 when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in
July 1969.
When asked in a 1995 interview if she enjoyed her longevity, Knauss said: ``I
enjoy it because I have my health and I can do things.''
Knauss, who died two days before the start of 2000, is survived by a
96-year-old daughter, Kitty Sullivan of Allentown, and several grandchildren,
great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
AP-NY-12-30-99 1916EST
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