Few older than Mrs Leonard

Press, 28 September 1984, Page 33

Few older than Mrs Leonard

PA Auckland New Zealand’s oldest resident, Mrs Parewahawaha Ranginui Leonard, who is 112, is now one of the oldest three persons in the Commonwealth. Buckingham Palace has confirmed that only two persons older than Mrs Leonard, who lives in Rotorua, were on its mailing list for congratulatory telegrams from the Queen for those over 100. VTop of the list, was a Canadian man who was 114

last year — “but we are not sure if he is still alive.” Then, beating Mrs Leonard by only a few days, was an Englishwoman bom in 1872 who celebrated her 112th birthday last week. A spokesperson from the Palace’s anniversaries office said that 2679 telegrams were sent to persons aged over 100 in the Commonwealth last year. Of these 155 were between 105 and 108 years old, three were 110, three were 111, and one was I®.

According to the “Guinness Book of Records,” Mrs Leonard is one of -the 10 oldest persons to have lived. The oldest living man on record is Shigechiyo Izumi, aged 119, of Japan, said to be in good health and expected to be still alive to celebrate his 120th birthday next June. Official Soviet statistics show unrivalled longevity in Georgia and Azerbaijan, but these have never been authenticated by Western sources.