Ask 100-year-old Clarice McLean her secret to longevity and you won't get many surprise answers: Eat healthily, lay off the drink and smokes, be kind to others and stick with your family. Son Royce McLean said good genes had something to do with it - one of her aunts had
Love and good genes the key
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When her kids were at school, she went to classes, studying everything from cake-making and hairdressing to woodwork, and became a whiz at ten-pin bowling.
She was a keen motorist, in an era when woman drivers were rare, and owned a succession of cars. Her grandchildren knew her as Nana Rocket for the way she drove her Skoda.
Mrs McLean retired to Waiheke Island after her husband's death in 1974. Later, determined to stick together, she and three sisters - Doris, 97, Elsie, 93, and Phylis, 87 - moved to Kerikeri Retirement Village. Jean, 91, lives in Rotorua.
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Friday's celebration included a singalong, cake, cards from the Queen and the Prime Minister, and a grand entrance on a brightly decorated golf cart.