Mrs Abbey died peacefully in her sleep at Opal Aged Care, where she had been a resident.

Her grandchildren, Wendy Morris and Colin Stonestreet, reminisced about a remarkable woman, who lived through two world wars and the Great Depression.

Maud Kathleen Mary Abbey was born on July 23, 1911, in Wellington, one of 14 children.

She married William Abbey and they had one daughter, Elaine.

Widowed in 1947, she eventually moved to Bathurst in the mid 1980s, where she had lived ever since.

Her grandchildren, Colin Stonestreet and Wendy Morris, said they weren’t surprised Mrs Abbey lived to such a ripe old age.

“Longevity is certainly in the family,” Mr Stonestreet said.

“Her father died in his 90s and her mother was just short of 100, so they both lived long lives.”

He said he believed the secret to her long life was clean living.

“She was meticulous, she never smoked or went out into the sun, and always walked, even when she was in her early hundreds. She would go into town on the bus and walk around,” he said.

While physically frail, Mrs Morris said her grandmother was sharp mentally.

And for the majority of her life, Mrs Abbey enjoyed very good health. Her first hospital admission, apart from when she gave birth, was when she was 80.

They also both said their grandmother loved a function.

“Especially if it revolved around her. When we had her 105^th birthday party she loved it so much. I think she lived for the 106^th, which we had in July. It was a great party,” Mrs Morris said.

Mrs Abbey’s funeral will be at the Holy Trinity Church, Gilmour Street, Kelso on Friday, September 22 at 2pm. Her service will be followed by interment at Maranatha Lawn Cemetery.