Real Lives: Businesswoman and mum with lust for life dies at 102

Born on April 25 1909, she was one of five children to John and Georgina Morris, and lived in Leith with her three sisters and one brother.

After her father was killed in the First World War, her mother married James Currie and the couple later had a son and two daughters to extend the family.

When she finished school, Mrs Daynes got her first job in a pawnbrokers’ office in Leith.

She married George Fisher when she was in her early 20s and they had a son, who they named George after his father, but divorced a few years later.

In 1941, she married Frederick Daynes and the couple set up home in Silverknowes.

They moved to Gamekeeper’s Road in Cramond and had a son, Fred.

Mrs Daynes had four grandchildren – George, Pauline, Roger and Lucy – and two great grandchildren – Craig and Calum.

As well as raising her children and looking after the home, Mrs Daynes helped her husband with the running of his wholesale newsagents business, based at Blair Street, Edinburgh.

And when Mr Daynes died in 1960, she took over the running of the firm, enjoying much success before retiring and selling the business to John Menzies in 1968.

She also took responsibility for Halley Transport, a removals and furniture distribution firm, which had been established in 1932.

Her son, Fred, ran the business first from Madeira Street in Leith, and then more recently from Winchburgh.

As well as keeping busy as a successful businesswoman, Mrs Daynes led a very active lifestyle. Speaking to the Evening News in 2009 she said her recipe for long life was to stay active – plus the occasional nip of gin.

Mrs Daynes particularly enjoyed swimming, taking part in the sport right into her 80s.

She was also a keen cyclist, walker and dancer, and enjoyed attending regular tea dances at Woodlands Nursing Home where she lived her later years.

Mrs Daynes moved to the nursing home in Livingston, West Lothian, just a few months before her centenary birthday, having lived on her own in Cramond Gardens until the age of 99.

She also loved to travel and enjoyed regular foreign holidays well into her 90s.

One of her most memorable trips was a three-month, round-the-world cruise on the SS Canberra in the mid-1970s.

The funeral of Mrs Daynes will take place on Monday January 9 2012 at Warriston Crematorium Cloister Chapel.