Frederick Woman Celebrates 112th Birthday

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- Frederick resident Helen Wheat, born the same year as aviator Charles Lindbergh, celebrates her 112th birthday Tuesday.

During the year she was born, 1902, Theodore Roosevelt was president of the U.S., Cuba gained independence from Spain, the second Boer War ended, and the U.S. bought the rights to the Panama Canal from France.

Wheat is the oldest person in Maryland, the 16th oldest in the U.S. and the 41st oldest in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group, a group of physicians, scientists and engineers that keeps records of people age 110 and older.

Her daughter, Janey Andrews, said it was a bit overwhelming to reflect on her mother's long life.

"Wow," Andrews said. "It's kind of hard to take it all in."

Wheat is ill with dementia and could not be interviewed, but her daughter described her "as a very nurturing person (who) has always lived her Christian faith throughout her life."

Wheat grew up in Pennsylvania and was active in the United Methodist Church there, playing organ and participating in the women's group. She moved to Maryland sometime before 1935, when Andrews was born. She has lived in Frederick since 2007.

She was very hard working, even into old age, according to Andrews, and she partly credited her longevity to that momentum.

Wheat's son runs a winery in Pennsylvania, and she helped him there until at least age 94.

She did a lot of canning and made preserves growing up. When she was 14, she left school to work at a dental supply shop.

Over the years, she helped raise about 10 foster children from Baltimore, according to Andrews, who said Wheat remained social, praying with seriously ill residents at the senior center where she lives, until recently when her dementia worsened.

"It's hard to see her not being like she was," Andrews said.

Some days are better than others for Wheat, and her family plans to gather Sunday to celebrate her birthday with cake.

Wheat has three children, nine grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.

Though the elderly population is growing, few people cross the milestones Wheat has passed.

According to the Gerontology Research Group, 71 people in the world are older than 110.

There were just more than 53,300 people older than 100 in the U.S. in 2010, according to the Census. In Maryland, there were about 910.
County centenarian numbers are not available, but there were more than 4,220 people older than 85 in the county in 2013. That figure represented an 11 percent increase over 2010.
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