Oldest woman in the world dies

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St. Petersburg, Florida-AP -- A woman believed to be the oldest person in the United States -- and the second-oldest in the world -- has died.

Mary Parr was 113. She died yesterday at a retirement community in St. Petersburg, Florida.

A nurse says Parr had been able to walk up until the last couple weeks, when she became weak and started falling.

The nurse says Parr often told the secret of her longevity was never getting married.

Parr was determined to be the oldest resident of the United States by the Gerontology Research Group, a non-profit organization which studies aging.

The group says only one person, a 115-year-old Japanese woman, has an authenticated age older than Parr's.

Another Florida resident is now apparently the oldest American. John McMorran, a former pack-a-day smoker, is 113. He lives in a Lakeland nursing home.

Copyright 2002 Associated Press.