Maybe it was the daily glasses of whiskey. Or the miles she walked to and from work each day. Or it could have been that she never had children.

Friends and relatives have their theories about how Paterson native Melva Mae Cadmus Radcliffe has lived to celebrate her 110th birthday today.

Ask Radcliffe what’s the key to her longevity, and she’ll just shrug her shoulders. She’ll chuckle politely, as is her nature. But her boredom with the question shows.

She’s been asked this a million times before.

“I don’t know,” she graciously told state Sen. Sean Kean (R-Monmouth) Wednesday. It was the second time she got the question that day and the birthday party hadn’t even started.

“God doesn’t want me yet,” she said. And smiled.

Today, New Jersey’s oldest resident on record will become eligible for one of the world’s most exclusive clubs. They’re the supercentenarians, people who have survived for at least 11 decades. The official members list worldwide is only 88 people long. Once researchers from the Gerontology Research Group of Los Angeles verify Radcliffe’s age with birth records, census documents, or marriage certificates, she’ll join their ranks.

On Wednesday, she celebrated the milestone birthday at the Waterford Glen assisted-living facility in Wall, where she has lived for three years. Kean delivered a bouquet of pink roses and relatives traveled there from around the state.

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