BIOGRAPHY

Mila Mangold was born in Saline County, Nebraska, USA, on 14 November 1907, to parents Albert Plecity (1865–1938) and Barbara Vokoun (1877–1973). She had vivid memories of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 and recalled soldiers returning from World War I. Her family owned and operated a general store in Wilber, a popular destination for Czech émigrés like her parents.

The family store also served as the community telephone hub. One day, her father overheard someone praising California as the land of opportunity, prompting them to sell the store and head west to settle in Los Angeles. There, they established a bakery where Mila worked before securing a position as a secretary at a county health department. It was at this job that she met Walter Smith Mangold (1895–1978), a rising star in the emerging field of environmental health. They married in 1940.

Her husband was hired as a professor at UC Berkeley in 1943. He eventually became highly respected in the field, leading to the establishment of the Walter S. Mangold Award by the National Environmental Health Association in 1956. He was the award’s first recipient.

In 1949, the Mangolds moved into a house on Magnolia Street with their 4-year-old son, Donald. Her son later worked as a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Although she attended UC Berkeley for a few years, she did not complete her degree. In the 1970s, she became active in a non-denominational congregation known as the Church in Berkeley. As a devout Christian, Mangold felt called to preach the gospel at Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus, a commitment she maintained well into her 80s.

At the age of 90, she walked several hundred yards along the Great Wall of China. She drove a light blue 1960 Ford Falcon until she was 95. After giving up driving, she began walking five blocks from her home in Elmwood to the College Avenue commercial district. Mangold left her home in Berkeley, where she lived alone until she suffered a fall at the age of 102, prompting her move to an assisted living facility. She outlived that facility, which eventually closed.

Mangold passed away on 2 July 2022 at RN3 Loving Care Homes in El Cerrito. The cause of death was reportedly a degenerative disease of the nervous system. She was survived by her son, Donald, and his wife, Nancy, and three grandchildren.

RECOGNITION

On 12 February 2021, following the passing of 114-year-old Lucy Mirigian, she became the oldest living person in the U.S. state of California, at the age of 113 years, 90 days. Upon her own passing, she was succeeded by Edie Ceccarelli.

Her age was validated by the Gerontology Research Group on 4 June 2021.

At the time of her passing, she was the second-oldest living person in the United States, after Bessie Hendricks. She was also the second-oldest validated person ever born in the U.S. state of Nebraska, behind Thelma Sutcliffe.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Something to celebrate: A Berkeley neighbor turns 112 — and a half” — Berkeleyside, 14 May 2020

* “Mila Mangold, once the oldest person in California, dies at 114” — San Francisco Chronicle, 21 July 2022

* Mildred Ann “Mila” Plecity Mangold – Find A Grave

GALLERY