Waipukurau's Clarice Anderson has known about her Queens Birthday honour since April this year, and says she doesn't know how she hasn't let the cat out of the bag in the last few months.
Mrs Anderson received a Queen's Service Medal for her services to the blind and seniors, recognition of her tireless dedication to the community.
She was born totally blind, she said, and from the age of three months endured operations to fix the cataracts that affected both eyes.
If she was born with her condition today, medical advances were such that she would probably be fine, but as it was she now lives with a small amount of vision in one eye.
That has not held her back, and at age 94, she continues to help others in the community around her, most particularly through her long-term involvement in the local branch of the Royal New Zealand Blind Foundation.