Last hurrah: 100yo celebrates milestone birthday before dying peacefully on same day

Albert Alfred "Alf" Lyon reached his 100th birthday before he died later the same day. Photo / Supplied

Alf Lyon always said he would make it to his 100th birthday.

He did just that - celebrating with a large chocolate cake, balloons and a band of tambourine players, before he died peacefully later that same day, on Friday, October 23.

"He had a piece of chocolate cake then retired - and he just gently passed that afternoon at 5 o'clock," youngest son Graham Lyon, 65, told the Herald.

A resident at the Grace Joel Retirement Village, in Auckland's St Heliers, the centenarian's room was decorated with gold balloons on one side as the all-important birthday cake was brought in.

He had all his letters of acknowledgement lined up on his bedside table - from Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Auckland mayor Phil Goff and Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy.

Staff members sang Alf "happy birthday", as he lay in his bed, just a few hours before he slipped away.

"Obviously there's that emotion. But when you've batted 100, there's nothing else he could do," Graham said.

"He carried his bat and was all out at the stumps. It was a celebration of a man's life."

Officially named Albert Alfred Lyon, Alf was born on October 23, 1920, to parents Henry Charles and Susan Lyon, of Tangimoana.

After a harrowing few years with the end of World War I and the deadly Spanish flu pandemic, the new baby was a welcome addition to the already large unit.

Alf Lyon was still able to get his special letter from Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Supplied

Graham Lyon said his father would be the youngest child out of his six or eight siblings, after their father drowned while Alf was still a toddler.

His mother worked hard to take care of her children; selling ice cream and opening up tea rooms to support them.

The family secret-turned legend

One of the many stories their father, who grew up in the Manawatū, shared with them was one that had become a bit of a family secret but a local legend in Tangimoana.

Alf Lyon is pictured as a baby, held by his mother Susan Lyon. His father Henry Charles (known as Charles senior) is on the far left. They pictured with family members. Photo / Supplied

"One day, Alf and his brothers made up a footprint of a moa. They went down to the river and they stamped the moa footprint all around the river.

"Someone must've found it and reported it and all of a sudden it was in the (newspaper) and everyone was heading there to hunt out the moa.

"The boys could never let on that it was them. It started off as a prank and grew into something beyond them - it grew into its own legend."

Alf followed his mother's footsteps and became a businessman and grocer; running supermarkets and small shops with his wife Jessie around Auckland.

Alf Lyon was born on October 23, 1920. He would die on the same day 100 years later. Photo / Supplied

The family also lived at the Linton Military Base and the Whenuapai Air Base for some time, as the couple ran the canteens there.

Graham distinctly remembers seeing members of The Beatles when they touched down at the base in 1964.

Two shops the couple owned were on Hills Rd, in Otara, and Richmond Rd, in Grey Lynn, in the 1960s.

With the predominantly Polynesian population at the time, the Lyons found themselves becoming more than just the local grocers - helping families to budget and never refusing anyone who needed their help, Graham said.

"They soon became known as uncle Alf and aunty Jess.

"Dad and mum always had a caring sense and used to say that if you take care of people, they will always take care of you too.

"That's defined us and our family structure and beliefs even today."

After his wife died, Alf married Dora Whitfield in 1983 and was also a proud step grandfather in later years, Graham said.

A private cremation has been held and the family is planning a special memorial service to remember their father and Pop at a later date.

Alf is survived by his children Paul, Christine, Graham and families.