Illness forced Christina (Chrissie) Fisken to give up school aged 10 but she taught herself English, maths and French and went on to become a national crossword champion.
The centenarian, who died in Arbroath last month, had a life-long passion for learning, reading and language.
Her daughter Elaine Chamberlain said her mother’s schooling ended when she contracted TB aged 10.
She was ill for long period but a clergyman in her home village of Barry by Carnoustie brought her books and she was able to catch up on lessons.
“The minister kept bringing her books and she kept absorbing them and by the time she started work at 13 she had mastered languages and maths,” said Elaine.
“I think that is where her passion for word games came in. She even went on to win the Daily Telegraph crossword competition.”
Mrs Fisken was born in 1920 Barry to tenant farmer William Mitchell Reid and his wife Christina McLean Smith.
He father’s family was well established in the Barry area while her mother’s family came from Blairgowrie.
She began her education at Barry school but her father’s death when she was 10 coincided with her contracting TB and she finished her formal education.
Just before her 14th birthday, Mrs Fisken began work in service with the Bonar family in Broughty Ferry.
While in her teens she met French polisher George Craigie Fisken at a dance at Carnoustie YMCA.
They started going out and got engaged on her 19th birthday, September 3, 1939, the day war broke out.
Her husband enlisted with the Border Regiment and was stationed in the south of England during the early part of the war when the couple’s first two children were born.
Mr Fisken later fought in the Burma and India campaigns including at the Battle of Kohima and was commissioned as a major.
He was demobbed in 1946 and returned to Carnoustie and began working as a stockman looking after pigs.
Over the years, he worked for farmers across Scotland and England building up champion pig herds and showing them at agricultural shows.
In 1979 Mr Fisken broke his leg at work and this prompted a move back north.
He got a job working as French polisher at RM Condor, Arbroath, while Mrs Fisken worked in catering at BT in Dundee.
Mr Fisken later went on to take charge of the repair and maintenance of service housing at Condor.
Both were keen country dancers but a fall 39 years ago forced Mrs Fisken to give it up.
Instead, the couple took up bowls, playing a Lochlands Bowling Club, Arbroath, and the indoor club in the town. They both went on to hold president positions at the indoor club.
Mrs Chamberlain said: “They were both accomplished bowlers and played well into their 90s. For the last three years of her life, my mum was resident at Seaton Grove, Arbroath. She received the most wonderful care and loved to take part in quizzes and any word games.”
Mr and Mrs Fisken’s eldest son Flight Lieutenant George C Fisken died while serving in the RAF when a Shackleton went down at Mull of Kintyre in 1968.
When she died, Mrs Fisken 11 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
The family’s announcement can be read here.