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By Soumya Karlamangla
Soumya Karlamangla spent four days in the beautiful town of Willits chatting with locals and getting to know the centenarian who will be its oldest fountain.
When Edith Ceccarelli was born in February 1908, Theodore Roosevelt was president, Oklahoma was just the 46th state in the country, and women still didn’t have the right to vote.
At 116, Ms. Ceccarelli is the oldest known person in the United States and the second oldest on Earth. She has lived through two World Wars, the advent of the Ford Model T — and the two deadliest pandemics in American history.
For most of that time, she has lived in one place: Willits, a village tucked in California’s redwood forests that was once known for logging but now may be better known for Ms. Ceccarelli.
At Willits City Hall, where 100-foot redwoods tower overhead, a gold-framed photograph of Ms. Ceccarelli sits in a display case. Last year, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors proclaimed Feb. 5 as a day to celebrate the county’s favorite daughter.
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