Maude celebrates 100 years

Maude McLean celebrated her 100th birthday recently – a milestone she credits to living a clean life and her natural West Coast hardiness.

“No smoking, no drinking. Born in the coast though, we’re tough down the coast.”

During World War II, Maude worked at the Reefton Hospital until she got appendicitis and had to stop.

“Scrubbing floors and corridors,” she says. “And looking after the nurses, their meals and their dishes.”

She biked more than a mile from Blacks Point every morning, “summer and winter, rain and sunshine... I enjoyed it there”.

Maude met her husband Mason who was a Nelsonian who had come to Reefton as a coal miner.

The pair married in 1950 and moved to Nelson in 1953 so Mason could help work on his father’s farm.

Eventually, her parent-in-laws opened McLean’s Home Centre in Stoke where Maude worked for a few years. Otherwise, Maude largely kept busy at home.

Maude still lives in her own home in Stoke.

“I’ve just been in this house for 60 years, it wants doing up, it’s like me.”

Maude says, while she played indoor bowls for many years, its word puzzles she spends time on now.

“That’s what I do in my pastime, word puzzles. Keep my eyesight going.”

With three children, seven grandchildren, and 14 great grandchildren, Maude has a large family, though only her son Grant is based in Nelson.

As a congratulations for reaching 100 years, Maude received cards from Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, and Minister for Seniors Ayesha Verrall.

Despite the considerable milestone, Maude says her life hasn’t been particularly notable.

“It’s not been a very exciting life, but one I liked and I’ve enjoyed.”