She wasn’t the oldest resident of Tamworth, but the death of Audrey Cross at the wonderful age of 105 is another milestone in our local family stories.

Actually, Audrey was six months into her 106th year, but until a few months ago, she’d still been chipper and bright for her age.

Mrs Cross – a mother of five sons, grandmother of 14, all but three of them girls, and a great-grandmum of 10 – died January 14.

For the past five birthdays, she’d been a willing guest of honour when four generations of her family would gather for a party – and for a woman who had loved being a bit of a social butterfly years before, it was another happy occasion.

Audrey’s life story is an engrossing tale.

The third of five children born to Piallamore farmers George and Gertrude Lye, Audrey was born on June 29, 1910, and lived in the Tamworth district all of her life. George was a Boer War veteran.

Times were hard on the farm, and her parents could not afford to support two children boarding in town to attend high school.

It was felt that Audrey’s older sister Verlie was more academically inclined, so she stayed on while Audrey left school at the end of her second year.

Audrey got a position at Treloars working in the new toy department, then was shifted to the ladies’ wear showroom, where her bubbly sales talk was valued and where she did occasional modelling.

Her boys say she was considered to be “an attractive young lady” and a belle of the ball on debut. 

She liked to be active, and played a reasonable hand at weekend team tennis, and enjoyed a fairly social life, eventually attracting Sid Cross, to whom she was married at 18.

They had five sons: Jack, Don, Ted, Peter and Ken. 

Audrey’s family life was also a compelling story of motherly love and inspirational dedication.

She lost her husband Sid to cancer in 1957, when he was only 50.

He’d been a foreman at the Marius St power station, oversaw the spread of the electricity network across the north-west and in his last years was the council’s electricity distribution manager. 

When Sid died, Audrey was left with two sons at home: Peter, 14, and Ken, only four. 

Despite having some savings and her widow’s pension, Audrey went to work at the CWA child-minding centre for what could only be termed “token” payment, and she babysat at night for selected families.  

She supported her boys’ education, through university and teacher’s college, and in the early ’60s bought her house in Denne St.

Jack, Don and Ken attended the universities of Oregon, British Columbia and New England respectively, gaining their doctorates in education (Jack and Don) and geological science (Ken).

Audrey was often heard to boast that she had three doctor sons “who can’t fix a sore toe”.

Ted went on to become a teacher, while Peter was in warehousing management.

Sadly, Jack, Ted and Peter all pre-deceased their mother. 

While she wasn’t the academic, she made a name for herself for her writing.

She became well known for her ability to record incidents, accidents and notable events in verse, sometimes of epic proportions – and her letters and poems often appeared in The Northern Daily Leader.

In 1996, Audrey sold her home and moved into St Andrew’s Village, where she lived independently for close to 14 years.

Just before she turned 100, she had a fall, suffered a broken hip and arm, and after that relied on a wheelchair for mobility.

She had lived in McKay House for the past five years, where, she said, the staff treated her like royalty.

Her family said her love, lifelong work and support, and her generosity had kept them close and caring.

She is survived by sons Don and Ken, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

The funeral service for Audrey Cross will be held on Saturday, January 30, at 10am at St Paul’s in Church St, West Tamworth.