Carol Combes learned in June from one of her banks that Social Security had declared her dead a month earlier.
The 71-year-old said she initially took the news with a grain of salt. But she became upset when her Social Security number was made public on the federal government's death index.
Eventually, Combes convinced officials she was still among the living.
A spokesman for Social Security says Combes' record has been corrected.
The volunteer with the East Quogue Historical Society said "everyone was nice" in helping her resolve the issue. She's still getting teased by friends who ask how she died.
