Now ‘‘92 and three-quarters'', the Dunedin widow is one of the oldest participants in Dunedin's University of the Third Age, an international volunteer-run organisation offering educational courses for the over-50s.
The Dunedin courses, run in conjunction with the University of Otago and tutored mainly by university academic staff, are so popular there is a waiting list for membership.
Mrs Pitches only began taking courses two years ago.
‘‘I had heard about it [the University of the Third Age], but I didn't join up until I was old as I had plenty of other interests to keep me occupied. But when you reach 90, an interest that involves sitting down is very attractive,'' she said yesterday.
Her first course was cosmology, which she described as ‘‘wonderful''.
‘‘I knew absolutely nothing about how the heavens were constructed... but I had two wonderful lecturers who made me feel at ease. One of them had two PhDs, an achievement which still makes me stand to attention.''
Since then, Mrs Pitches has completed courses on Russian history, the populating of the Pacific and other topics, and is now facing a dilemma - which course to take next.
‘‘There are two coming up which interest me - women in society, which looks at women from medieval times to World War 1, and six journeys, which will be the life stories of six people who attend University of the Third Age courses. I want to do them both but, at my age, I have to limit myself to one lecture a week.''
At first, Mrs Pitches caught two buses each way from her home in Kaikorai to her lectures, held in a variety of venues near the university. Last year, she conceded to the concerns of her family and neighbours and ‘‘allowed herself a taxi''.
Born and raised in the Catlins, Mrs Pitches began training as a nurse before meeting her late husband, Ted, at Clyde Hospital in the 1930s. He proposed marriage three days later.
‘‘I said: "Don't be silly, I don't even know you.'' But marry they did, moving to Dunedin and raising a family. Mr Pitches died in 1987. Mrs Pitches never completed her nursing training, but said she did not feel intellectually inadequate at her first University of the Third Age course.
‘‘Even though I was so ancient, nobody made me feel left out. The lecturers were clever people, but unpretentious. I have found that it is only people on the edge [of cleverness] who like to show off.''
Participating in the courses ‘‘kept her mind occupied'', she said.
‘‘You meet such interesting people and it gives you something to talk about with your family.'' Asked how long she would continue the courses, she replied: ‘‘For as long as I can walk.''