A big birthday bash is planned for Carrie White, who turns 115 Saturday and is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest living person on Earth.
As many as 800 guests are expected at the party planned for Monday at Putnam Memorial Nursing Home, where White lives, and there will be a big cake, nursing home adminstrator Paul Allen said.When she turned 114, Guinness representatives gave Mrs. White a gold embossed certificate declaring her the oldest person alive, though she was not listed as such in the 1989 edition of the record book because hospital records certifying her age had not been authenticated in time.
Most of White's life is a sad mystery. She spent 75 years in a mental institution.
She was born Carrie Joyner on Nov. 18, 1874, in Gadsden County near Georgia. She lived and worked near Tallahassee and married John White, who was a blacksmith or farmer.
In 1909 her husband admitted her to the Florida State Hospital at Chattahoochee. Mrs. White wasn't released until 1984, and when asked now, she either can't or won't talk about her past.