The mother, grandmother and great-grandmother was still living independently and growing her own vegetables three years ago.
Her son, Barry Brennan, said her secret to a long and full life was keeping healthy and eating organically.
Since suffering dementia, her family shared that “Mum had got to the stage where she was not leading the sort of life she wanted, she was fiercely independent and never wanted to be in care.”
The current life expectancy in New Zealand is 81.71 years (2019).
After her father passed away when she was five, Joan Edith’s mother moved her family to New Zealand via Australia. In New Zealand, Joan trained as a nurse for Karitane hospitals, which were a set of six hospitals around the country by the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society to care for babies.
Joan Edith married her husband Thomas in 1937. He dies in 1998, aged 89.
Together Thomas and Edith Joan had three children, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Brennan said she’ll be remembered for her independence, her caring and giving nature, and her strong personality.
