Happy 115th Birthday Gertrude Baines

LA woman celebrates milestone

The world's oldest person is a year older today.

Gertrude Baines will celebrate her 115th birthday at her home at Western Convalescent Hospital, near downtown Los Angeles.

Born in 1894 in Shellman, Ga., Baines became the world's oldest living person when 115-year-old Maria de Jesus died in January.

Her father was the son of slaves, and Baines has outlived her entire family. Her only daughter died of typhoid fever when she was a toddler.

A representative of the Guinness Book of World Records will be on hand at today's celebration to present Baines with a proclamation acknowledging her as the world's oldest person.
  
Baines was featured on local television newscasts in November when she cast her ballot for Barack Obama for president, saying she backed him "because he's for the colored." She said she never thought she would live to see a black man become president.
  
Baines, who worked as a maid in University of Ohio dormitories until her retirement, has lived at the Convalescent Hospital for more than 10 years.

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