SHE was a “second mother” to hundreds of schoolchildren and was still delivering Meals on Wheels as a 92-year-old volunteer.

But on her 100th birthday yesterday, remarkable Ruby Baker took it easy and enjoyed her day in the sunshine as she was honoured by more than 70 guests, including the Lord Mayor of Oxford and Magdalen College School’s choir.

Surrounded by five generations of her family, friends and relatives described Mrs Baker as a “fighter” as they recalled how she battled to overcome polio and the death of her husband William to bring up five young children.

She was a matron at Magdalen College School for 25 years and ex-pupils drove from far afield to visit her, while the school’s choir also serenaded her at Isis Nursing Home in Cornwallis Road, East Oxford.

Former pupil Les Robertson, 50, from Lichfield: “She’s just the most amazing lady ever.

“She never stopped working from half six in the morning until half nine at night.

“If anything went wrong she was always there to pick up the pieces.”

Fellow pupil Chris Walker, 50, from Sheffield, added: “She’s quite special, she’s been very kind and dear to us all. She was just like our second mother. Her door was always open to us.”

Mrs Baker, who was born Ruby Lewsey in Crouch End in 1909, moved to Iffley with her husband William at the outbreak of the Second World War. She was struck down with polio a year later.

Doctors at the Wingfield Morris Hospital in Headington — now the Nuffield — said Mrs Baker would never walk again but she defied them by walking out of hospital four months later.

She lost her husband to pneumonia in 1954 but went on to take full-time work at MCS, where she spent the next 25 years caring for about 90 children a year at the school’s boarding house.

After her retirement, Mrs Baker delivered Meals on Wheels for the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service and also worked at the Age Concern shop in St Clement’s Street until she was 92.

Her grandson Nicholas Baker, 42, who flew over from San Fransisco, said: “Nan was quite a modern woman.

“She was never the little woman, she was more like the women of today.

“She’s definitely the leader of the family and she’s tough, she’s a fighter.”

Daughter Mary Sugden, 74, from Iffley Turn, said: “She brought us up tough and kept those schoolboys in order.”

A devout Catholic, Mrs Baker still enjoys doing crosswords and playing Scrabble, and attributed her longevity to living a pure life.

She said: “It’s been a lovely day. It’s been great seeing all the old boys from Magdalen School. I have been overwhelmed by it really.”

Mrs Baker was joined by her three sons, John, 80, Michael, 77, and Maurice, 72, as well as some of her 12 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and three great great-grandchildren.

cwalker@oxfordmail.co.uk