Moyae Keen celebrated her 100th birthday

ON Christmas Eve, long-term Tully resident Moyae Keen celebrated her 100th birthday in fine fashion.

She celebrated her special milestone by completing 3km in the Paradise Run, Mission Beach, with her son and his family, followed by waffles and ice cream for breakfast.

Moyae then attended bingo with her friends at Tully Leagues Club, which on a rare occasion, stopped to sing a Happy Birthday to her.

After bingo, all of Moyae's family and friends joined her for lunch at the Tully Leagues Club.

She received congratulatory letters from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other politicians and a letter from King Charles III.

Iris Moyae Keen (nee Bowler) came into this world in a railway residence as a home birth on December 24, 1922, in the rural town of Morven, Queensland.

Her parents were William Edgar Bowler and Constance Kinkead Bowler, and Moyae was the eldest of three girls, Ailsa and Elaine who have both sadly passed.

Moyae, as she later chose to be known, attended primary school at Maryborough, then worked as a secretary and did home duties.

Moyae married Alfred Keen on April 5, 1956, at the Congregational Church in Buranda, a suburb of Brisbane.

The couple had two children, Bill and Mary, and after 39 years of marriage, Moya sadly lost Alfred in 1995.

During her 29 years living in Tully, Moyae has fond memories spent at Tully Leagues Club and Senior Citizens Club, whilst the hardest challenge in her life was losing her husband.

Moyae, a resident of Tully Nursing Home, enjoys playing cards and bingo, and her greatest joy is spending time with her family, which includes six grandchildren and eighteen greatgrandchildren.

Moyae's philosophy for longevity is getting good sleep, a beer a day and spending quality time with family.