Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull congratulated Sister Marie Fitzpatrick on her recently awarded Queen's Service Medal, at a function in her honour yesterday afternoon.
Sr Marie, of the Little Sisters of the Poor Home and Hospital in Brockville, had been unable to attend an earlier mayoral gathering, held last month, to acknowledge Dunedin people who had received Queen's honours last year.
Sr Marie was 19 when she joined the Little Sisters in 1933. During her 75 years as a sister, she had been imprisoned in China during the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, and was a prisoner of war in France during World War 2.
She is also the former mother superior of the Little Sisters' rest-homes in Andersons Bay and Brockville. She has continued to help residents with their meals at Brockville, even though most are younger than her.
Government House officials said last year that Sr Marie might be the oldest New Zealand recipient of a Queen's honour.
