Gertrude Baines

Gertrude Baines (April 6, 1894 – September 11, 2009) was an American supercentenarian, who became the oldest recognized living person according to Guinness World Records (upon the death of Portuguese woman Maria de Jesus) on January 2, 2009, until her own death on September 11, 2009, at the age of 115 years 158 days.

Baines lived in Los Angeles. Just before her 115th birthday, Baines was hospitalized and treated for dehydration, but she made a quick recovery. Aside from her arthritis and inability to walk, Baines was in good health until the age of 115. She was buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery. After her death, Kama Chinen succeeded her as the world's oldest person.

Baines was born in Shellman, Georgia in 1894. She recalled that her earliest memory was a car ride to Canada.

She later married at a young age and had a daughter who died of typhoid fever at the age of 18. In 1920, Gertrude Conley was recorded as living in Hartford, Connecticut. She later moved to Ohio, where she worked as a maid at Ohio State University, before moving many years later to California. She lived on her own until 1999 when she was 105 years old, and resided at the Western Convalescent Home in Jefferson Park, Los Angeles until her death. According to MSNBC.com, she enjoyed "simple pleasures" of eating a diet of bacon and eggs and black-eyed peas, and watched shows like The Price Is Right and Jerry Springer.

Baines voted for Barack Obama for U.S. President in the 2008 election. The only other time she voted in a Presidential election was in 1960 for John F. Kennedy.

When asked to what she credited her longevity, Baines answered: "God. Ask Him... I took good care of myself, the way He wanted me to." She also said, "No, I didn't ever think I'd live this long."