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LEGENDARY animal lover Patsy Way died at Helderberg Lodge in Somerset West on Sunday. She was 102-years-old. A memorial service will be held for Patsy at the Duck In restaurant in the Helderberg Nature Reserve on Sunday, July 13 at 09:30.

Patsy made the headlines in January 2006, when on her 100th birthday she rode a horse to raise awareness for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

At the time she was living with Jess Maxwell at Bowden Park, who died 18 months ago. They had been house companions for 40 years.

Patsy had a great love for all animals and was a stalwart at the local Animal Welfare Society, where she worked selflessly as a volunteer for decades.

She was in her eighties when she still drove to the townships with a bucket of water on the back-seat to dip dogs and often stood in at the kennels when the manager had a day off.

Her biggest joy was being in nature. She was a member of Friends of the Helderberg Nature Reserve for many years and participated in many hacks to remove alien vegetation.

The Rotary Club awarded her with a special vocational service award for outstanding and devoted service to the community.

Patsy had a turbulent life
She was born in Sunderland, a shipbuilding town in England, as one of Winnifred and Norm Way's four children. The family moved to Namibia after World War 1, where her father later became a magistrate. She attended boarding school at Rustenburg High in Cape Town, travelling by boat from Walvis Bay. Growing up in Namibia she did a lot of horseriding and even obtained a licence to be a jockey.

She also performed on horse back in Windhoek in a little circus, "standing on the backs of our horses like Cossacks and jumping on and off".

She rode in the first ladies race at Kenilworth and in later years also had her own riding school in Cape Town, teaching horse riding at Herschel. During World War II Patsy was a transport driver and was seconded to the navy, driving everything, from trucks, to lorries and even ambulances.

After the war she had various jobs, ranging from shop-assistant to nurse maid. She also delivered milk as a driver, and helped in a small diary. One of the jobs she most enjoyed, was working as cowboy on a big cattle and sheep farm in the then Gordonia district. Patsy also worked as kindergarten teacher and all round helper at a community centre in Claremont and was chauffeur to the nuns in the heart of Soweto at a convent run by Father Trevor Huddlestone although the nuns were aware that she was an atheist.

Patsy left school in standard six, but said she would have liked to have gone to college and become a writer.

She attended the University of Cape Town's Summer School right into her eighties and later got her lectures for free.

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