Passing just two months shy of her 108th birthday, Ivy has been remembered as a “lovely button” of a woman.
Close friend Rosemary Pollock said Ivy was “very curious and caring about people”.
She was surprised by her lengthy life, Pollock said.
“I think it started, she was about 85, she would go into Westpac bank once a year and joke with them that they wouldn’t have to worry about seeing her next year because she wouldn’t be around,” said Pollock.
The joke lasted another 20 years.
Born in Ashburton on July 1, 1917, Ivy grew up in South Canterbury amid the Great Depression.
“It was very, very rural. Just a dirt path going through the centre of town back then,” said Pollock.
Ivy and her parents, John and Elizabeth, moved to Mt Pleasant in the early 1930s for more economic opportunity.
Ivy worked at a butchery and later spent much of her working life as an accounts clerk at a small business.
She continued to live in the family home after her parents died in the 1960s and 70s, and never married or had children.
Pollock said Ivy spent her early adult life caring and providing for her parents, so she never found a husband.
“She would have been a beautiful mother, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”
At some stage after her centennial birthday, Pollock remembered Ivy suggesting her single status may have prolonged her life.
“Perhaps not having to worry about some husband and kids actually added some years.”
Pollock thought walking and biking could have contributed to Ivy’s long life.
“She never owned a car. She would bike or walk everywhere. I remember one day I saw her walking home up the hill with her groceries in hand. She would have been about 90 then.”
Ivy and Pollock met 25 years ago at Empower Church in St Albans.
“She really started to light up around then. She was a bit lonely until she joined the church but then we got to see this funny, lovely person who loved to tell funny stories.”
Ivy was personally frugal, but charitable when it came to money.
She lived independently until she was 105 and diagnosed with dementia.
She died at Essie Summers Retirement Village on April 12 from dementia-related causes.
Ivy was farewelled in a funeral service at her church on Sunday.
