WHEN Dorothy Brown's daughters Margaret, Maureen and Marie would come home from school in Morisset many years ago, the sisters never knew who they might encounter when they opened the door.
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"If Mum found someone in need, she'd take them in," Maureen said.
Whether they needed a meal, a bed, or just a friend to talk to, Dorothy could be relied upon.
"It was like a big open house. It was wonderful," Maureen said.
"We never knew who'd be there when we came home from school."
And so it was fitting that Dorothy should be surprised by a room full of well-wishers, family and friends today for her 100th birthday.
The milestone celebration was held at Toronto Nursing Home where Mrs Brown has lived for four years.
Some of the visitors travelled from as far afield as Sydney and Queensland for the occasion.
Dorothy lost her first husband during the fall of Singapore in World War II, in 1942.
After the war, she rekindled her relationship with childhood sweetheart, Leslie Brown, and the pair married in 1948.
Their enduring partnership became part of the family's folklore.
The importance Dorothy and Leslie placed on family had been passed down through multiple generations, their daughters said.
Mr Brown passed away in 2010, in the couple's 62nd year of marriage.
Mrs Brown had been a cook at Lake Macquarie Hotel, in Morisset, and was a whiz in the kitchen at home, too.
"Mum was such a good cook, and she could cook anything," Maureen said.
"I really liked her bread and butter pudding."
The family enjoyed a culinary routine with a fish dinner served on Fridays, roast dinners on Sundays, and tripe on another day of the week - although the sisters couldn't recall which day, as tripe wasn't quite so popular.
"I hated tripe, but our dog loved it. We'd feed him the tripe as he sat under the dinner table," Maureen recalled.
Margaret said her mum had also been a great knitter.
"And she'd knit a shawl for the first child in every family," she said.
Marie said her mum had always been approachable, and a hard worker.
Apart from her job at the pub, Mrs Brown worked as a milliner and post mistress. And she was among the founding members of the Morisset branch of the RSL Women's Auxiliary.
Mrs Brown has 12 grandchildren, 29 great grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren.
Her daughters said they were grateful to have learned cooking and knitting from their mum, but there was one legacy they valued above all others.
"Mum taught us to be caring, and we are," Maureen said.
