The centenarian celebrated triple digits on February 2 with a few visits and cups of tea, then was back at the Tuapeka Goldfields Museum the next day with her friends preparing local newsletter The Tuapeka Times for delivery.
"How do you live to be 100?" she laughed.
"Everybody asks that.
"You keep busy.
"You keep yourself occupied."
True to form, Mrs Coburn’s 100 years have been active since her birth in a stone cottage near Lake Hayes in 1926.
She left school early and worked at a Queenstown boarding house before moving to Dunedin for a role in clothing manufacturing during World War 2.
She married Lawrie Coburn in 1949, and the couple relocated to Beaumont Forest, where they had no electricity or heating.
They had a son, and when Mr Coburn advanced to forest ranger, they moved to Lawrence in 1980.
After his death in 1986, Mrs Coburn took over running their 2ha property.
She joined Beaumont-Tuapeka Rural Women in 1952, earning a life membership in 2021.
At the Lawrence Athenaeum & Mining Institute, which she joined in 1977, she held roles including president and helped adapt it into a reference library amid changes including the 1989 council amalgamation.
Other commitments include the Red Cross, for whom she authored a local history book, textile work and garden clubs.
Mrs Coburn has two grandchildren and one great-grandchild overseas.
She was not bothered about receiving a birthday card from King Charles.
"We’re all too busy to be chasing about after things like that," she said.
