Doris Macken died peacefully at the Albury and District Nursing Home on Tuesday night after sharing an ice-cream with her niece, Lesley McClintock.

“I’ll miss her terribly and the many conversations we have had about family,” Mrs McClintock said.

“She had every memory in her mind until she collapsed in my arms.”

Mrs McClintock said Miss Macken, who had never married or had children, was content and never unhappy.

“She had a love for all animals and was interested in politics,” Mrs McClintock said.

“She was an avid reader and she took the print off the Sydney Morning Herald every day.

“She could also never understand how people would go to bed before watching Lateline.”

Mrs McClintock said she believed Miss Macken’s sense of humour had contributed to her long life.

Miss Macken lived at Bathurst for almost 20 years before moving to Albury two years ago to be with Mrs McClintock and great niece Louise Hobson.

She grew up in Balmain with her three brothers and a sister.

Her happiest memories were of playing tennis with family.

After leaving school, she took up dressmaking and was a of the dramatic society.

She recalled walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge when it was opened in 1932.

For her 106th birthday, Albury mayor Kevin Mack had planned to take Miss Macken on a tour of Albury but, instead, they sat and talked when he visited her last Thursday.

“She’s a beautiful lady and she had a lot of dignity and a lot of respect,” Cr Mack said.

He met Miss Macken a year ago and, since then, he had visited her many times.

She gave him advice on running the city — her father was mayor of Hurstville from 1921 to 1924.

“She was a very informed lady and quick with a quip and a bit of advice,” Cr Mack said.

“She gave me advice on how to handle things and said her father was tough but fair.”

A service to farewell Miss Macken will be held on Monday at John Hossack Funeral Services on Wilson Street.