Warrnambool's Avis Quarrell has 100 reasons to smile on her birthday

Letters from King Charles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have already arrived in the mail to mark the milestone with family gathering on her birthday - July 30 - to celebrate. But perhaps the greatest gift of all was the birth of her first great great grandchild - a yet to be named girl - on Saturday.

Avis was born in Terang but her father's search for work in the 1920s saw them moved all over the state.

She went to at least dozen schools but was always at the top of the class.

She was an avid reader and had a wealth of knowledge.

But son Stephan Quarrell said his fondest memories of Avis were probably the phone calls where they would share a joke.

"She loved a joke," he said.

Avis would write down every joke he told her, and sometimes that meant it could take 10 minutes to get to the punch line.

He said one day she handed him an envelope filled with all the jokes he'd told her that she'd written down.

Not only did she like to read and tell a joke, Avis like to take photos.

On her 10th birthday when they were living in Nhill she was given a box brownie camera. It still sits on the shelf at her house alongside the photo she captured one day when a bi-plane landed in town and out stepped Australian aviation pioneer Charles Kingsford-Smith.

Avis went on to become a good photographer later joining the Camperdown Camera Club, winning prizes and becoming a judge.

When she retired and moved to Warrnambool she published tourist books filled with photos she'd taken. She was also a volunteer at Flagstaff Hill for three decades.

Avis had desperately wanted to serve in the army during World War II, and at 18 begged her father to allow her to enlist. Her dad, who had served in WWI and went onto serve in WWII, wouldn't hear of it.

But when she turned 19 she joined the Australian Women's Army Service where she served for more than three years. She was on radar duty one night in Sydney when Japanese two-man submarines came into the harbour.

Even as a youngster in the army, Avis loved a good gag.

Stephan said that a bomber aircraft had flown under the Sydney harbour bridge during the war as a bit of joke.

"He did it because mum goaded him," he said.

"Of course he got confined to barracks for a while. Mum liked dancing and he was confined, so off they went dancing."

Avis has three children - Anne, Stephan and David - six grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.

IN OTHER NEWS

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: