Mary Dorothy Christian née Perry (June 12, 1889 – April 20, 2003) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 supercentenarian

Supercentenarian

A supercentenarian is someone who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in a thousand centenarians....

 who became the oldest recognized person in the United States

Oldest people

This is a list of tables of the verified oldest people in the world in ordinal rank, such as oldest person or oldest man. In these tables, a supercentenarian is considered 'verified' if his or her claim has been validated by an international body that specifically deals in longevity research, such...

 at age 113 upon the death of 113-year-old Mae Harrington and was succeeded in this title by another 113-year-old, Elena Slough.

Perry was born in Taunton, Massachusetts

Taunton, Massachusetts

Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County and the hub of the Greater Taunton Area. The city is located south of Boston, east of Providence, north of Fall River and west of Plymouth. The City of Taunton is situated on the Taunton River...

 to parents whose name had been anglicized

Anglicism

An Anglicism, as most often defined, is a word borrowed from English into another language. "Anglicism" also describes English syntax, grammar, meaning, and structure used in another language with varying degrees of corruption.-Anglicisms in Chinese:...

 from Perreira (she was of Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 descent).
She spent much of her life in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, where she died in a San Pablo, California

San Pablo, California

San Pablo is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city of Richmond surrounds nearly the whole city. The population was 29,139 at the 2010 census. The current Mayor is Paul V. Morris, and the current Vice Mayor is Cecilia Valdez. Current Councilmembers include Arturo M....

 nursing home at 113 years and 312 days.