103-year-old Ella Wilson in her room at The Gardens Care Home in Pukehangi. Photo/Ben Fraser
"We've done that and eventually got over them and got on our feet, but at times it has not been easy."
She said she was disappointed to learn her hearing and sight had deteriorated.
"This means I cannot read or write. I wondered what I could do in my spare time, and so as I had done a lot of knitting and crocheting, I do knitting. I have made several scarves that my family have appreciated."
During her lifetime she said she had seen "considerable changes."
"I was born during the big flu epidemic, it was all over New Zealand, and then we had a very heavy depression, and then we had the Second World War which my husband went overseas."
Daughter Joan Murphy, 82, who lives in Rotorua, said her mother was an "incredible woman with a fabulous memory," who still makes her bed daily.
"I take her shopping, and we go into town for about three hours. She only has a walking stick, and she doesn't use the walker provided for her," Mrs Murphy said.
Mrs Murphy said herself and her two brothers, John Wilson, who lives in Auckland, and Graham (Jim) Wilson who has died, were lucky as children being brought up in a loving home.
Mrs Wilson's nephew Gavin Harrison and his wife Lyndie were over from Australia to celebrate with "Aunty Ella." They had also attended Mrs Wilson's 100th birthday at the Distinction Hotel.
Milly Tapa, a caregiver at The Gardens, said Mrs Wilson was an inspiration.
