Best was born in Palmerston North but spent his boyhood in the Waikato, where his own father worked in a flax mill.
Anthony Best said his father often joked about how remote and boring life in the flax swamps must have been, because there were 16 children in the family.
''We have 46 first cousins!''
With no electricity in the household, the highlight of Best's childhood was going into the nearest ''big'' town, Morrinsville, to look at the street lamps and shop lighting displays.
During World War II, he served overseas on Norfolk Island, in the New Zealand contingent supplying food, other goods and transit mainly to American troops fighting in the Coral Sea and Pacific.
He has always told the story about how he did fire some shots during the war, but only at sharks pinching his bait when he was fishing.
On Thursday, surrounded by his large family, including some of his own siblings, Best happily cracked jokes, received hugs and gifts and looked much younger than his 100 years might suggest.
