Elena Slough, oldest American

By Associated Press, 10/6/2003

TRENTON, N.J. -- Elena Slough, considered to be the nation's oldest person and the third oldest in the world, died yesterday. She was 114 or 115, according to different sources.

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

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

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

What is not in dispute is that Mrs. Slough was the oldest person in the United States. She inherited that title in April. According to the gerontology organization's website, the world's oldest person, Kamato Hongo of Japan, turned 116 last month.Mrs. Slough was born Elena Rodenbaugh in a log cabin in Horsham, Pa. She lived through seven US wars, 21 presidents, and 12 US territories gaining statehood.