Oldest woman in the world dies

St. Petersburg, Florida-AP -- A woman believed to be the oldest person in the United States -- and the second-oldest in the world -- has died.

Mary Parr was 113. She died yesterday at a retirement community in St. Petersburg, Florida.

A nurse says Parr had been able to walk up until the last couple weeks, when she became weak and started falling.

The nurse says Parr often told the secret of her longevity was never getting married.

Parr was determined to be the oldest resident of the United States by the Gerontology Research Group, a non-profit organization which studies aging.

The group says only one person, a 115-year-old Japanese woman, has an authenticated age older than Parr's.

Another Florida resident is now apparently the oldest American. John McMorran, a former pack-a-day smoker, is 113. He lives in a Lakeland nursing home.

Copyright 2002 Associated Press.

TOKYO – Japanese centenarian Kamato Hongo celebrated her newfound fame as the world's oldest person Wednesday, and showed that at 114, she still has not lost her taste for life's little pleasures including raw fish, green tea and even a drop of alcohol.

Guinness World Records has named Hongo the oldest person in the world following the death Monday of the previous record-holder Maude Farris-Luse of the United States at the age of 115 years and 56 days.

Long known for having the highest average life expectancy in the world, Japan also enjoys the distinction of being home to the world's oldest man, Yukichi Chuganji, who turns 113 on Saturday.