Miss Petrie was the guest of honour as the Andersons Bay Community Kindergarten she founded in Dunedin in 1932 finally celebrated its 80th anniversary - one year late - on Saturday.
And, as the latest generation of youngsters ran around laughing, Miss Petrie could only smile at how far the facility had come.
''It's lovely,'' she told the Otago Daily Times.
Hundreds of children, spanning generations, have passed through the doors in the intervening years.
Miss Petrie said she still had many fond memories, including encouraging the children to climb the kindergarten's fence and wave as Queen Elizabeth passed by during a royal tour in 1954.
''We saw her go past and gave her a wave. They [pupils] thought it was great because they thought she saw them all.''
But then, in her job, there were many good memories.
''I liked the children. You had to like the children to do it.''
Anniversary organiser Kirsteen McLay-Knopp said it was ''wonderful'' to have Miss Petrie at the event, as well as past and present pupils and parents.
''It's amazing to think she's seen the kindergarten that she founded ... now reach 80 years.
''It must be lovely for her to see after all her hard work.''
Miss Petrie, a trained teacher, founded the kindergarten in 1932 with a class of 12, but it was soon attracting children from all over Dunedin.
She eventually retired in 1974, after 42 years of running the facility and watching hundreds of children grow up and move on.
Miss Petrie said she never had any troublesome children to deal with - hardly ever, anyway.
''Some of the boys were a bit noisy sometimes, which was to be expected,'' she laughed.
