Oldest Iowan dies at 109

Iowa’s oldest resident has died. Born in 1893, Nell Lowry lived in three centuries — and died Tuesday of pneumonia at a care center in Norwalk. City officials had declared a day in her honor back in September when she turned 109. She was a retired secretary and wrote poetry as a hobby. She’d been married twice and had two children, and a batch of grandkids, great-grandkids and even two great-great grandkids. Lowry had attributed her longevity to daily chiropractic exercises and drinking plenty of milk. With Lowry’s death, an Oskaloosa woman takes the title of the oldest Iowan alive — Fairy Watkins is just a few months younger than Lowry and is also 109.