Sarah Edge, the oldest woman in the Dudley borough, dies aged 105

Sarah (née White) was born at Mousesweet Cottage, Netherton, on March 14, 1905.

Known as Sally to her friends, she attended Halesowen Road School in Netherton, commonly known as the Iron School due to the fact it was constructed entirely of corrugated iron.

Each morning before school Sarah delivered milk from her grandfather's dairy farm using a small horse-cart.

One of seven children born to Ellen and Edward, a builder, Sarah shared a bed with two of her sisters in the cramped two-bedroom cottage while their two brothers slept in the same room behind a partition. The family had few luxuries but Sarah enjoyed singing in the choir at Spring Meadow Baptist Chapel, Old Hill.

At more than 90 years old, she could still remember all the words to her favourite hymn, the Old Rugged Cross.

She also vividly remembered the fright of seeing an enormous German Zeppelin airship whirring in the skies above her home following the advent of the First World War.

After leaving school at 14, Sarah went to work at D Leonardt & Co, one of the main firms in Birmingham's then-booming pen industry. She worked there for seven years, and one of her duties was collecting gold nuggets from the Jewellery Quarter to be moulded into fountain pen nibs.

In her early 20s, Sarah met Charles, a local toolmaker, through a mutual friend. They married in June 1930 at St Andrews Church, Netherton, with Sarah walking all the way to church in her wedding dress.

Less than a year later their first child arrived, a daughter named Joyce, soon followed by three sons: Bryan, Michael and Roy.

Michael was born on a hot night in July 1943, when Britain was under wartime blackout. Charles and Sarah – who was then heavily in labour – received a warning from the air-raid warden for allowing a beam of light to escape from a window they had opened a crack to let some air into the house.

The young family lived at first with Charles' parents in Claremont Street, Cradley Heath, later moving to Linton Road, Old Hill. Sarah was more at home in the garden than she was in the kitchen, and had a particular talent for propagating plants and bushes.

She also enjoyed weekend jaunts to seaside towns such as Bournemouth and Weston-super-Mare. Her love for travel did not diminish as she grew older. She was an active member of the Haden Hill Darby and Joan Club, with which, on one occasion, visited the Isle of Skye.

At the age of 70 she travelled abroad for the first time, visiting her youngest son Roy who lived in Australia and spending six months in Perth.

Roy, 65, said his mother shared some of her happiest times there. He spent six years in Perth as a operating theatre technician and Sarah made the journey to see him in 1972.

"She was a tough woman and whenever she saw a snake, she'd shrug it off, maybe even poke it with a stick," said Roy, who now lives in Brockley's Walk, Kinver. "I think she really enjoyed her time over there and absolutely loved the sunshine."

Charles passed away in 1976, but Sarah remained at Linton Road until shortly after her 100th birthday, when she received the first of two telegrams from the Queen.

There was more than 100 years between Sarah and her youngest grandchild, Alicia, and she was also great-grandmother of two.

Sarah passed away peacefully on December 7 with family at her side, at Woodlands Gate Rest Home, Pedmore, where she had been a resident for the last five years.

Her son Michael, 67, said his mother would be remembered fondly.

"She was always there for us and lived for her family. She loved her garden and she was not at all interested in materialistic things. Needlework was one of her pastimes and she'd often make things for us. I remember as a child when I didn't have any swimming trucks she knit me some."

"She had a very simple life in some ways but she always looked after her family. She was a wonderful mother," he said. "She had a hard life but people always commented on her lovely smile. She will be missed by many."

l Sarah's funeral service will be held at Rowley Regis Crematorium, Powke Lane, on Wednesday at 2.30pm, followed by a wake at Regis Hall, Reddal Hill Road, Cradley Heath, at 3.30pm. Inquiries to J Freeman & Son (Netherton), tel: 01384 252943. In lieu of flowers the family would like to request donations to Mary Stevens Hospice, Stourbridge.