Document text
3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW C.W. Smith will run for Senate ... Death at U.S. Cellular not considered suspicious ... Bank robber on the lam from Phoenix work center ... C.W. Smith will run for Senate ... Death at U.S. Cellular not considered suspicious ... Bank robber on the lam from Phoenix work center ... Grants Pass woman dies at 109 Melanie Dickie may have been the oldest Oregonian when she died last week By Jeff Duewel Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Jeff Duewel Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Mar. 22, 2016 @ 4:33 pm By Jeff Duewel Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Mar. 22, 2016 @ 4:33 pm » RELATED CONTENT • 'She is who you see' » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Melanie Dickie may have been the oldest living Oregonian when she woke up last Wednesday morning at Regency Care of Rogue Valley. The next morning she was gone, after living 109 years and 179 days. "I always told her she was 109 and a half," said Tammy Price, activities director at Regency, formerly known as Fair View Transitional Center. "She just amazed all of us. She was up eating breakfast every day, up until the day she passed away." Dickie, born Sept. 13, 1906, in Hamburg, Germany, spent most of her youth in Canada, and much of her adult life in Chico, Calif., before coming to Grants Pass more than 20 years ago. She had no children, and the nearest relative was a niece in Canada, Price said. She came close to becoming a supercentenarian — 110 years — an age attained by about 80 people still alive in the U.S., according to Gerontology Research Group. A researcher for GRG said Monday it appears Dickie was the oldest person in the state, though it's impossible to know for sure. The longest-lived person who died in Oregon was Delma Kollar of Creswell who was 114 when she passed in 2012. The oldest Oregon-born person was Geneva McNicholl of The Dalles, age 112 when she died in 2002. Birdie Johnson of Medford, 109, is now likely the oldest Oregonian, according to GRG. The current oldest person in the U.S. is Susannah Mushat Jones of Brooklyn, N.Y., who turned 116 last July. When Dickie turned 109 last year, the Regency staff presented her a cake with a picture of her taken when she was 26 years old and living in Portland. At the event, Joan Momsen of the Josephine County Historical Society told the lunchtime crowd what was going on in the world in 1906, including the San Francisco Earthquake and the early automobile. Dickie never lost her love of eating fish, Price said, and still enjoyed a mocha to drink. But congestive heart failure — she was on oxygen for nearly a decade — finally caught up with her. "She wasn't eating as well, and she was sleeping more toward the end," Price said. The staff posted a photograph of Dickie right next to her room after she died. "Everybody says they can't believe when they look in her room that she's gone," Price said. "It hit the staff pretty hard." She'll be laid to rest next to her longtime husband, Virgil, in Chico, Calif. They met at a dance hall in Hollister, Calif., in 1941. Reach reporter Jeff Duewel at 541-474-3720 or [email protected] By Jeff Duewel Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Jeff Duewel Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Mar. 22, 2016 @ 4:33 pm » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2016 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501