| Mila Mangold | |
 Mangold on her 113th birthday in 2020. | |
| Birth: | 14 November 1907 Saline County, Nebraska, USA |
| Death: | 2 July 2022 El Cerrito, California, USA |
| Age: | 114 years, 230 days |
| Country: |  USA
|
| Validated | |
Mildred "Mila" Ann Mangold (née Plecity; 14 November 1907 – 2 July 2022) was an American supercentenarian whose age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). She was the oldest known living person in the U.S. state of California since the death of 114-year-old Lucy Mirigian on 12 February 2021, until her own death over a year later.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Mila Mangold was born in Saline County, Nebraska, USA on 14 November 1907 to Czech immigrants Albert and Barbara (Vokoun) Plecity.[1] Her parents operated a general store in Wilber, Nebraska. She recalled the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic as well as soldiers returning from World War I. She met her husband, Walter S. Mangold, in Southern California. He worked in public health and she had a job as a secretary in a health department in Los Angeles, where she lived during the Great Depression.
During the 1940s, the couple moved to Berkeley, California, where Walter became a professor at UC Berkeley. He helped to found the field of environmental health. They had one son together, Donald. Her husband died in 1978.
Later Life[]
Mangold continued to drive until the age of 95. Up until her centenarian years, she would collect oranges from her tree to make marmalade for her neighbors.
Mangold also liked to travel. In 1997, when she was 90, she walked the Great Wall of China. She also went on a trip to Hawaii.
Mangold was a Christian and, for many years, had been a member of the Church in Berkeley. She was the oldest active member of the church at the time of her death, and is also the oldest member in the church’s history.
In November 2007, Mangold celebrated her 100th birthday at the HS Lordships Restaurant at the Berkeley Marina, a few years before it would permanently close. At the time of her celebration, she had no idea that she would go on to live for as long as she did.
Mangold lived on her own in the Elmwood neighborhood in Berkeley until she was 102, after suffering a fall which required her to be moved into an assisted living facility. Prior to moving to an assisted living facility, she would regularly travel from Elmwood to her son’s residence in Berkeley Hills to babysit her grandchildren.
During her supercentenarian years, she had used a wheelchair.
Mangold’s age was validated by the GRG on 4 June 2021.
There was a history of longevity in Mangold’s family. Her mother lived to be 95, and her sister, Mae Prokop, died at the age of 100.[2]
Death and Longevity Records[]
Mangold died of a degenerative disease in her nervous system in El Cerrito, California, USA on 2 July 2022, at the age of 114 years, 230 days. At the time of her death, she was the second-oldest living validated person in the United States (behind Bessie Hendricks), and the third-oldest living validated American-born person (behind Maria Branyas Morera and Hendricks). She was also the seventh-oldest living validated person in the world from the death of Casilda Benegas on 28 June 2022, until her own death just four days later.
Mangold is currently the second-oldest validated person ever born in the U.S. state of Nebraska (behind Thelma Sutcliffe), and the fourth-oldest validated person ever to have resided in the U.S. state of California (behind Christian Mortensen, Gertrude Baines, and Edie Ceccarelli).
Gallery[]
References[]
- World Supercentenarian Rankings List Gerontology Research Group
- Something to celebrate: A Berkeley neighbor turns 112 — and a half Berkeleyside, 14 May 2020
- Happy birthday to Mila Mangold, who has just turned 113 Berkeleyside, 4 December 2020
- At 114, Mila Mangold is now the fourth oldest person in America. 6Park News, 15 November 2021
- Mila Ann Mangold Obituary Sunset View Cemetery Association
- Bay Area woman who was the oldest living in California dies at age 114 KTVU, 13 July 2022
- Mila Mangold, once the oldest person in California, dies at 114 San Francisco Chronicle, 21 July 2022
| California's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E) |
|
Fannie Thomas • Mary Phil Cota • Walter Wilcox • Gregory Pandazes • Mary McKinney • Bertha Blair • Unknown • Zoe Hiehle • Katherine Jones • Amy Harris • Miriam Carpelan • Christian Mortensen • Frances Johns • Clara Huhn • Adelina Domingues • Mary Christian • Emma Taylor • Elma Corning • Margaret Russell • Marion Higgins • Gertrude Baines • Soledad Mexia • Opal Thompson • Dominga Velasco • Florence Boggs • Clarence Matthews • Minnie Whicker • Lucy Mirigian • Mila Mangold • Edie Ceccarelli • Ilse Meingast |