Joy Rudsits credits a “good, solid, country upbringing” for helping her reach her 100th birthday.

On October 25, 1925, Joy Rudsits née Murray was born to Gwen and Bill, joining her older brother, Tom.

She was born in Waitara, 15km outside of New Plymouth and grew up on a farm south of Mt Messenger. Joy and Tom biked 5km to school as kids, before they attended boarding school: Tom to Nelson College and Joy to Whanganui Girls’ College.

“We had a happy, well-organised childhood,” she smiled, reflecting on her past.

Her family grew their own vegetables, and her father killed his own meat. They never employed labour on the farm.

“We used to go into the bush and look for berries. It gave me a good grounding.”

Their community always had events on. From calf day at school to dances at the town hall, there was always something bringing the community together.

Joy filled the town hall with music for those very dances. She began playing the piano at the age of 7 and joined choirs throughout her education, eventually leading them when she became a teacher.

Joy Rudsits has been playing piano since she was seven – that’s 93 years. Photo / Brydie Thompson

“Our mother made sure we were taught music, and I was taught elocution. She always made sure we had everything that was wise for a family.”

Music played a central role in Joy’s life - still does, playing from the radio perched upon her Chappell piano. She collected sheet music by composers like Beethoven and Wagner when she was younger, but donated these to another home.

She’s a multi-instrumentalist, having also played the accordion and violin for the orchestra at teachers’ training college.

“I’ve been a teacher all my life,” said Joy. She taught primary and special education.

“In the early days, in the King Country, I taught near the big sawmill that was there during the war. In the later years, I spent 19 years in charge of a special school in Waikato Hospital. We had three primary teachers, a kindy teacher, and a high school teacher fulltime.”

Joy met her husband, Eric Rudsits, during World War II. The pair married after he was discharged in 1946 or 1947, then moved to Taumarunui, where they welcomed their daughter, Wanda, and son, Kim.

Wanda now lives in San Francisco, while Kim’s daughters have built lives for themselves in England.

When Eric and Joy eventually made their way to the Bay of Plenty, they built a house on Tay St, and Joy taught at Omanu School.

Joy, aged 21, with her husband Eric on their wedding day in 1946. Photo / Brydie Thompson

She and her mother - “a good sportsman ” - had played tennis together.

They won the Taranaki champs for doubles, while Joy won the singles when she was a teenager.

When life brought her to Mount Maunganui, she joined the Mount Maunganui Tennis Club, where she was an A-grade player until her shoulder went at 85. However, she proudly said she has no artificial knees or hips.

Joy was a patron of the club for many years, and her cubmates still pay her frequent visits.

“Half the tennis club walks in here on a Tuesday and has a chat.”

Once a week, Joy Rudsits walks from Puriri Park Retirement Village to Mount Maunganui’s boardwalk to enjoy the view from a bench dedicated to her late son, Kim Rudsits.