ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 7, 1996 TAG: 9608070071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ORLANDO, FLA.
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
The invention of the telephone. The Wright brothers' first flight. World War I. Mary Thompson was around for it all.
The Orlando woman was thought to be the oldest American before her death last week at the age of 120.
``She was a sweetheart,'' said Mary Lee Jackson, administrator at the Veranda Nursing and Rehabilitation Center where Thompson lived. ``She was very friendly and always had a warm smile for everyone. She advised us to live a good clean life.''
Thompson died Saturday at Orlando Regional Medical Center after a stroke and heart attack, doctors said.
``She had never been sick before,'' said Patricia Harris Symons, wife of one of Thompson's seven surviving grandchildren, Jake Symons. ``She had a problem with her walking and her vision, but that's it.''
The secret to a long life, she often told people, was to ``tend to your own business.'' - Knight-Ridder/Tribune
LENGTH: Short : 31 linesby CNB