Surrounded by an abundance of flowers, balloons and cards, Mrs Gemmell celebrated her 100th birthday on July 8 with her family by her side.
"I feel quite spoilt or special somehow but I have just loved all the flowers," Mrs Gemmell said.
Alongside her children, Barbara, Julie, Gillian and Geoff, and their partners, Mrs Gemmell had a special celebratory meal at Pen-y-bryn Lodge, topped off with a delicious home-made carrot cake.
"I had a very nice celebration."
Born in Oamaru, Mrs Gemmell (nee Meldrum) went to "good old" Oamaru South School and later attended Waitaki Girls’ High School. She was taking commercial classes, studying to be a shorthand typist, when the teacher received a call from a local accountancy firm, asking for someone to come and work for them.
Mrs Gemmell was given the job, which was a shock to the system as she had to learn how to use a telephone after growing up without one in her family home.
"I was terrified . . . when the phone rang how to answer it and press the buttons to put it through to the rest of the office. You soon learnt," she said.
She married Ken Gemmell on December 8, 1945. Mr Gemmell had a long history with Camp Iona, near Herbert, as one of the instigators who bought the camp in 1938 and served as the board’s chairman for 50 years until 2003. He helped build the bunkhouses and lodge — which was renamed Ken Gemmell Lodge following his death in 2013 — and Mrs Gemmell spent time at the camp during the holidays.
Gardening was one of her main passions and Mrs Gemmell kept a "good garden" at their family home.
She moved to Observatory Village four years ago and was "very well looked after".
She attributed her longevity to eating good food. Oamaru had been good to her and she was very fond of the North Otago town.
"Oamaru is a good place to grow up and has good schools."
