Mrs Lena Ray never thought she would make it to the ripe old age of 105.
She thinks herself lucky to have got beyond childhood after being plagued with rheumatic fever and thyroid problems.
``I was very delicate as a little girl. I was still very lively, but very small,'' she says.
Mrs
Ray has old North Shore connections. ``Shakespeare Rd in Milford is named after my grandfather, William Nathan Shakespeare,'' she says.
``My mother was a Shakespeare and she was the last of the line.''
The youngest of four children, Mrs Ray was born in Inglewood, Taranaki, and spent her childhood travelling New Zealand with her family, as her father worked for the railways. She taught in secondary and primary schools and also piano when she moved to Auckland in 1959.
She ran a shop for a time in Westport and worked in the housing department's accounts section in Auckland.
Mrs Ray and her husband had one son, but she looked after many local children, including Polish refugees, with some staying months on end.
``I brought up lots of children. I did it for love,'' says Mrs Ray.
She now lives in Te Mana Home and Hospital in Birkdale where she has been for two years. - by Kirsten Grant
