Mary celebrates her 106th birthday

Edward VII was on the throne and Richard Sneddon was Prime Minister when Mary Stevens was born at Maungatapere in 1906.

Her parents were Charles Stevens, son of Captain William Stevens from Southland and Ngai Tahu woman Irihapeti Taki, and Arabella McKenzie, daughter of Captain Duncan McKenzie and Jessie McKenzie who were among the Scottish settlers who came to Waipu via Nova Scotia.

On Saturday Mary - who could be the oldest person in Northland - turned 106.

She has been blind and deaf for more than 20 years, but that didn't stop her chatting to her great-grandchildren, Eli, Ezekiel, Micaiah and Emilee Gillies. Also at Mary's bedside in the Radius Potter Home at Whangarei was her daughter Jill Gillies, of Kaikohe, with husband Bruce, their son Philip and his wife Cathy - parents of the great-grandchildren - Mary's nephew Clyde Stevens and his wife Lorene from Maungatapere, and Mary's niece Shirley Smith (nee Stevens) from Whangarei.

Birthday greetings were sent by grand-daughter Kristine Stewart, who lives in Wales, and grandson Andrew Gillies, who is in Edinburgh.

It was a huge day for the elderly lady, who received a large birthday cake baked by her great-granddaughter Emilee and a chocolate cake made by staff at the Potter home.

"Mum seemed overwhelmed by all the attention," Jill Gillies said.

Mary was the youngest of Charles and Bella Stevens' 10 children and lived much of her life on their farm named Crystal Springs at Maungatapere.

As a girl she rode her horse to Maungatapere Primary School and later boarded weekdays in Whangarei while attending Whangarei Girls' High School, where she was keen on sport and played tennis and hockey.

In 1936 she married Charlie Young and they were farming at Ruakaka when their only child, Jill, was born in 1939. However, the family returned to Maungatapere in 1943 so Mary could look after her ailing mother.

Mary had a large garden in addition to helping her husband milk their pedigree Jersey cows. Her many activities in the Maungatapere community included being organist and Sunday School teacher for the Presbyterian church and being involved with the Woman's Institute, tennis and bowling clubs. She payed golf, first at Denby then with the Sherwood club, until she was in her early 80s.

When she and Charlie retired from the farm, they built a house opposite the Maungatapere Church which is now owned by Clyde Stevens.

The couple spent a few years living in Auckland looking after Charlie's parents. When they died, the couple returned to Whangarei, where he died in 1988. Despite her blindness, Mary lived alone until she was 99 in 2005, when she moved into the Potter Home.

"She is very independent," Mrs Gillies said. "She is still taking herself for short walks along the corridor and is in good health, apart from taking the occasional Panadol."