Young men, chocolate secrets to living 110 years

Young men and chocolate.

That’s what helped Delpha Johnson reach her 110th birthday, the supercentenarian said jokingly.

But others think she just has good genes.

“When we get a flu here, she just doesn’t get sick,” said George Cobblah, director of social services for the Four Seasons Living Center. “I don’t even remember the last time she went to the doctor.”
Johnson was born in northern Missouri on May 21, 1898, and she grew up in Sedalia, where she was a beautician for years.

The Gerontology Research Group is keeping tabs on 76 other supercentenarians worldwide on its Web site, www.grg.org. The group defines a supercentenarian anyone who has lived to be 110 years or older. Sixty-five of the people listed on the Web site are women and 11 are men. The oldest person is 115.

Don Darnell, an Elvis impersonator, performed for Johnson’s birthday party at Four Seasons Living Center for more than 100 people.

“This woman has seen everything from the beginning of our Industrial Age to now,” Darnell said. “This lady is a living testament to history.”

Johnson, told her guests she was turning 21 and moved her head to the rhythm of the music.
“I told her it was her birthday this morning, and she thought she was 106,” said Teresa Mays, Johnson’s social worker. “Then I told he she looked beautiful, and she told me, ‘Oh, you need glasses.’ ”

Employees at Four Seasons said Johnson loves to have a good time.

“She’s a really lovely lady. For 110, she knows everything she wants,” activity assistant Melissa Schreuders said. “She’ll say when she wants her nails painted or when she wants to play Go-Fish.”

Johnson worries about the impression she makes on people, one employee said.
“She was a very, very alert, educated person,” Pat Perriguey, in medical records, said. “Prissy, but not the kind of person that would hold it over your head. She’s just very particular.”

Johnson moved to a Four Seasons independent living apartment in 1998. As her health declined, she received more constant care.
“This is a big milestone for all of us,” Mays said. “I don’t know. I think 110 deserves some kind of recognition.”