RARITAN TWP. — Adele Dunlap, who turned 114 in December, died on Sunday at Hunterdon Medical Center.
She was the oldest person living in America, a distinction that now passes to Delphine Gibson, 113, of Huntingdon County, Pa., a rural area west of Harrisburg, said Robert D. Young, director of the Gerontology Research Group.
Marie-Josephine Gaudette, 114, who currently lives in Italy, is the oldest living American, Young said.
Dunlap, who was born in Newark on Dec. 12, 1902, had become the oldest person living in America in July. She is survived by two sons, six grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
Two years ago she had no explanation for her longevity, and at the time her son Earl urged her, “Just keep going for the record.”
Oldest living American celebrates birthday
A birthday celebration was held in December at Country Arch Care Center in Union Township in Hunterdon County, where she was living. She assumed the title of oldest American resident when Goldie Michelson of Massachusetts died on July 8. Dunlap said earlier this year she stopped counting her age when she turned 104.
A Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday at Immaculate Conception Church, 316 Old Allerton Road, Annandale, according to her obituary. She will be buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover.
Dunlap, who has lived at Country Arch Care Center since she was 99, was also among the top 10 oldest people in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which validates living supercentenarians, or people older than 110. She was among seven centenarians living at Country Arch.
In August, U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance and state Assemblyman Erik Peterson visited her at the center.
Born in the Clinton Hill section of Newark on Dec. 12, 1902, she was the youngest of four children, with three older brothers. After graduating from Southside High School in Newark, she entered Newark State Normal School to prepare for a teaching career.
She taught third grade for five years, during which time she met her husband, Earl “Lynn” Dunlap, with whom she had three children, two boys and a girl.
After her marriage she became a housewife, raising her family and tending to her home. “My mother didn’t believe in marriage for teachers,” she told NJ Advance Media during an interview when she turned 112.
Dunlap lived in Clinton with her son and his wife, Earl and Barbara Dunlap, for 12 years before moving to Country Arch Care Center.
Craig Turpin may be reached at cturpin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @NJeditor. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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