NZs Oldest woman diesRuby Billings, believed to be New Zealand's oldest woman, died peacefully in a Hamilton rest home on Saturday.
Mrs Billings had featured in the Waikato Times several times over the years, the most recently last month when she turned 109.
Maeroa Lodge facility manager Paula McFarlane said Mrs Billings kept good health, but deteriorated quickly in the last couple of days.
"She was quite remarkable really. She will be very much missed by everyone here."
She had lived in care since the late 1980s in Maeroa Lodge in Hamilton's Forest Lake and Wilson Carlile in Hamilton East before that.
Staff at Maeroa Lodge had a soft spot for Mrs Billings, ringing the newspaper each time she had a birthday when she would satisfy her sweet tooth with a sponge cake.
She outlived two husbands and two sons and had nine grandchildren, 24 great and 10 great-great grandchildren. Her funeral will be held in Hamilton tomorrow.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/2400989/Oldest-woman-dies