Tamworth woman Jean Jansen has reached her 100th year

"When I was a child, I saw the Harbour Bridge being built before the arches were joined," Mrs Jansen said.

"I did go to the opening of the Harbour Bridge and I can remember the Sydney Harbour all lit up and every person who had a boat was on the harbour.

"There were all these Japanese lanterns and the boats were decorated and there were fireworks."

It is just one of many poignant events to have changed the course of history that Tamworth local Mrs Jansen has lived through or seen in her 100 years of life, including the introduction of TV, radio and the internet.

But to mark a momentous occasion in her own life, Mrs Jansen was presented with letters from King Charles III, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and a visit from her former neighbour, now Tamworth mayor, Russell Webb on her 100^th birthday on Tuesday, September 12.

"She is one of those lovely country ladies who has contributed in every possible way to the communities she lived in," Cr Webb told an intimate crowd gathered for her garden party in Tamworth.

The avid baker, cook and passionate gardener was awarded a Medal of the Order (OAM) in 2013 for her services to the community through a range of voluntary roles, not limited to church services, Brownies, and the Red Cross. She even made clothes for impoverished children in Tanzania for a number of years.

Mrs Jansen's big birthday bash is scheduled for Saturday night at the Settlers Inn on Goonoo Goonoo Road, where about 110 family and friends - she has 13 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren - are preparing to help her celebrate.

"I'm not a person who gets over-excited, but the thing I'm really looking forward to is seeing people," Mrs Jansen said.

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Born in the south island New Zealand town of Timaru in 1923, Mrs Jansen's family moved to Sydney, Australia with her parents and two sisters when she was just four years old.

After leaving school, she joined the Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) and worked as a nursing orderly, then on the hospital wards in the Sydney suburb of Concord during World War II.

It was there where she fell in love with an injured soldier named Norman 'Bill' Jansen, who she would go on to marry after the war in 1945 before welcoming two sets of twins and a middle child.

"There was a big window and he used to come and sit outside the window in the garden [when I was on duty] and talk to me through the window," Mrs Jansen said.

"And if a guard went down the ramp, he just ducked down under the vegetation."

After about 11 years living on a farm, the family moved to Sydney for 14 years due to Mr Jansen's ailing health.

But it was not long before the call of the country enticed them to a 21-hectare farm in Somerton, and later a parcel of land in Attunga where they built what would later become their last home together.

"He only lived there for five years but I lived there for 32 years," Mrs Jansen said of the love of her life.

"I've been a widow for 38 years."

Sadly, her husband died from cancer in 1985 and one of her eldest twins, Barry Jansen, died from a tumour at the age of 26 in 1977.

"Like everybody else, we've had our ups and downs, including the hard times when we lived on the farm," Mrs Jansen said.

"But I've had a happy life, a good life, and I've got a good family. We've never had a quarrel amongst any of us."

Mrs Jansen moved to Tamworth about ten years ago. She spends her time pottering around her quaint home, tending to her pretty garden and baking delicious delights for her neighbours and friends.

"She's been an inspiration to all and a very hard worker," her daughter Barbara Fardy told the Leader.

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