Gertrude Baines

Western Convalescent Hospital residents attend worship services.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Nannie Brown, 95, plays bingo at Western Convalescent Hospital.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

The key to longevity is a person’s genes, doctors say. The oldest recorded person in history lived to be 122.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Reporters interview Gertrude Baines at Western Convalescent Hospital after the death of Maria de Jesus in Portugal made her the oldest person in the world.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Gertrude Baines, 114, rests quietly in her room.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Nannie Brown, 95, reads her Bible during worship services.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Heroldine Finnie, 90, plays bingo.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Dorena Huey, left, and Nannie Brown, 95 go to play bingo.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Gertrude Baines, 114, poses with her certificates and photos. She talks about Shellman, Ga., her hometown; about her father, an ardent Democrat believed to have been be a slave; about riding to church on Sundays in a horse and buggy.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Azlee Ross, 85, looks out the window at Western Convalescent Hospital, where one of the fellow residents is Gertrude Baines, 114.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)