EUNICE Pellow didn't become a resident of Bathurst Masonic Village until she reached three figures, but she's certainly made her mark in the years since.
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That was evident when a big crowd gathered at the village on Friday to wish Mrs Pellow an early happy 105th birthday and give her an enthusiastic rendition of For She's A Jolly Good Fellow.
"This is a real surprise to me," her son Ian said. "I just thought it was going to be a small morning tea, but this has really blown my mind."
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Mr Pellow said his mum, the youngest of seven children, was reluctant to enter aged care.
"She lived in her own home [in Peel Street] until she was just over 100," he said.
"Up until when she came here, I had a DVD [player], a couple of other appliances [linked] to her television and she managed all that.
"She hasn't got into the mobile phone yet, which is probably good, but she's kept up with it."
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He said she remains interested in what is happening with her family: Mr Pellow, his three daughters and the four children they have between them.
"I tell her things about the grandchildren and a few days later, she'll ask how they are going," he said.
Mr Pellow said his mum - who lost her husband in 1953 and did not remarry, "just kept an eye on me all these years" - had various jobs, but mainly in domestic housework.
She is well-known in Bathurst for nursing Ida Traill, of Miss Traill's House, towards the end of her life.
She's also resilient: Mr Pellow said his mum had fought a couple of bouts with cancer, at 90 and 100, and had won both of them.
Mayor Bobby Bourke, who spoke at Mrs Pellow's celebration, said the milestone reflected well on Bathurst Masonic Village.
"All I can say is, living here, the tucker must be good," he said.
In an interview in 2014 to mark her 100th birthday, Mrs Pellow said she had never held a driver's licence and had relied on her own two feet for transportation.
