Raewyn Wylie, of Oamaru, celebrated her 100th birthday this week and was looking positively regal for it.
She celebrated her birthday with about 25 Oamaru members of the University of the Third Age, a nationwide network of learning groups aimed at encouraging older people to share their knowledge.
Mrs Wylie (nee Cross) was born on May 26, 1924 in Timaru.
Her secret to a long life was a passion to learn more, she said.
She joined many groups and still loves music and singing.
She grew up on her family farm in Papakaio and trained as a nurse.
Mrs Wylie and husband Frank had four children: Frank, Erin, Peter and Lewis.
She has 16 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Her youngest son Lewis said she was very "community minded".
She was an elder at the Lower Waitaki Presbyterian Church for some years, which was unusual for a female at that time.
In the early 1980s she went to Israel with a friend to help out on a kibbutz as a volunteer and she was an active member of the hospice here.
Lewis Wylie said his mother was "the most non-judgemental person I’ve ever come across".
She spent a short time in Warkworth before moving back to Oamaru after her husband Frank died.
