Centenarian Susie Norman was born in Northern Ireland on November 14, 1911. Tragedy struck early in her life when, at the age of 18 months, her mother Elizabeth Mary died and she went to live with her paternal grandparents at their farm.

When she was 12 her father Henry Simms remarried and both Susie and her brother Harry moved to Southampton.

On leaving school, she came to Langton to work at Spyway School as a ‘domestic’. There she made some lifelong friends and met her future husband Ernest Norman.

Susie later became a housekeeper in Swanage before answering an advertisement for a cook for a couple who lived in Leamington.

Following her marriage to Ernest, Susie returned to live at Castle View where her son Mike and daughter Sheila were born and grew up.

Susie remained great friends with her Irish relatives, particularly her cousin Molly, and kept in touch with friends she had met in the village where she had grown up.

A great cook, her kitchen cupboards were always full of cakes and bottled fruit. A woman of many talents, Susie could knit Fair Isle jumpers while watching television and giving a running commentary on any sport. An enthusiastic and capable gardener, she also crocheted and sewed beautifully.

Susie was widowed in 1965 after Ernie suffered a heart attack. Fiercely independent, she lived alone, with the support from Nightingales nursing agency in later years, until moving to the Old Rectory when she was 99. The nursing home provided the setting for her 100th birthday celebrations.

Paying tribute to her grandmother, Charlotte Paddison said: “She was an amazing woman, so full of character. “I have lots of wonderful memories of grandmother; her ability to tell a good story, her love of good company and her friendship.

“She was interesting and funny. Despite not having the easiest life, she loved life at Langton and lived at her home in Castle View for nearly 80 years.

“People were a huge part of what continued to give her quality of life for such a long time.”

Susie died on March 4 and her funeral service was held at St George’s Church, Langton Matravers, on May 16. In accordance with her wishes, her ashes will be scattered at Kimmeridge.