At the air base it was her job to hand out the mail, and her future husband, Sergeant Allan Hodder, was one of those airmen.
Around that time none of the airmen were allowed to go on leave so Mrs Hodder took pity on them and baked a big batch of cream puffs.
She placed some into a radio parts box and gave them to her future husband, knowing he would take them back and share them with the other airmen.
Soon after, Mrs Hodder decided to "try this country boy" and when the couple married they continued to live in Auckland.
They moved to Northland and lived for five and a half years at Donnelly's Crossing in the Waipoua Forest where Mr Hodder was the postmaster and station master.
Mr Hodder, 93, was a cadet in the Railways and continued to update his qualifications when he entered the air force.
The couple eventually moved to Wanganui after Mr Hodder was promoted to second district traffic manager for the Railways.
In the meantime, Mrs Hodder said, "I raised my kids, cooked, gardened, learned to ice cakes and went to painting classes."
The couple agreed that being able to give and take and to see what the other person thought about things was the success to their longevity.
"It was not for anyone to be dominating. We swapped around ideas."
