A tiny woman in a pink hat softly kissed Bessie Fullerton-Smith's photo on the cover of her funeral programme.
Then, dabbing her eyes with a small hanky, she whispered, "Goodbye, Bessie, dear friend".
Yesterday was Bessie's funeral at St Stephen's Church in Marton.
Bessie died peacefully at her home, aged 101, on Friday, August 1.
Across the casket were branches of pale pink blossom above clusters of pink lilies, camellias, and creamy stock with dozens of dewy violets.
Bessie loved violets and always wore three flowers with a leaf pinned to her jacket for luck, former Rangitikei Hunt Club Master Jack Brice said.
"We all do. It's our tradition."
An incredible equestrian most of her life, Bessie was the first women president of the Rangitikei Hunt Club.
In fact, she was the first woman president nationally and probably in the world, her nephew, David Duncan, said.
"Bessie did not retire from the hunt until she was 84," he said.
More than 400 people were packed into the tiny wooden church and the church hall next door to farewell Bessie, who had been an inspiration to so many for so long, the Reverend John Vickers said.
There were tributes from family members, including the eulogy given by her only child, Henry, and a video link with grandson Jason in London.
Tired was never a word in Bessie's vocabulary. Each member of the family told of her amazing energy, her fantastic capacity for life and living, her great love for everyone, her passion for animals, her unswerving loyalty and her incredible modesty.
Even though she was an extraordinary woman in the equestrian world and on the golf course, "Bessie was always Bessie and we all loved her so much".
Pictures of Bessie throughout her life were flashed on to a large screen as "I Can't Stop Loving You" (Ray Charles) played.
The photos were like a "Vogue" model, a Hollywood movie star, a beautiful woman with a glorious smile. As her casket was taken from the church, hunt club members and their hounds formed a guard of honour behind the hearse.
As the hearse turned the corner of the small tree-lined street, Rangitikei deputy Hunt Master Neil Wells blew a last tantantara for a very special and much loved woman, Bessie Fullerton-Smith.
PICTURED: Rangitikei Hunt Club members and hounds in a guard of honour for Bessie Fullerton-Smith in Marton yesterday. From left: Lindy Horrocks, Jack Brice and Neil Wells
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