Eva Copeman from Wisbech - the county's oldest person - dies aged 107

A woman who was the oldest person in Cambridgeshire and among the oldest in the country has sadly died.

Eva Copeman from Wisbech was just a couple of months away from her 108th birthday when she died on Friday (25) making her the 69th oldest person in the country.

The centenarian had been ill for a couple of weeks before she passed away at her home in Edina Court.

Her son younger son, Paul, from Wisbech said: "She had only been ill for about a couple of weeks and deteriorated a couple of days before she peacefully slipped away at her home in Edina Court, in which the staff treated her with care, dignity and respect that I will always be eternally grateful for."

Wisbech centenarian Eva Copeman has celebrated her 107th birthday with not one but two parties.

Eva marked her 107th birthday in February this year with a family get together.

She then enjoyed a second party with her fellow residents who joined her for a celebratory coffee morning complete with cake and balloons as well as a visit from the then Wisbech mayor Andrew Lynn.

The First World War was raging, King George V was on the throne and the first building blocks of the NASA space centre were being laid (although it would be another 46 years before man went into space) when Eva entered the world on February 27 1915 in Wisbech.

While women today are still fighting for equality, when Eva was born most women across the world were still unable to vote.

Eva arrived into a world at war so most of the inventions of the year of her birth were war related - including a prototype tank tested by the British Army, hand grenades and the use of poison gas.

Paul said his mum had never really spoken about all the inventions she saw in her long life, and so it is hard to say which had the biggest impact for her.

But she was always loved using the telephone to talk to her family - although she never had one of her own until she was in her late eighties. In fact, Alexander Graham Bell made the first long distance call in 1915.

In more recent times Eva enjoyed using new technology to chat to her family - some of who live as far away as Scotland - and loved nothing more than a FaceTime chat.

FaceTime was a life-line for Eva during the pandemic when Covid meant she, like many other older people, was forced into isolation.

Paul said the pandemic had an impact on her, most notably being isolated affected her short term memory.

But, at the same time, she developed a more adventurous palate when it came to food.

Previously she put her long life down to her diet of fish, chicken and vegetables – no fat or alcohol and very little sugar.

However, since moving to Edina Court five years ago and relying on staff during Covid for her meals, she developed a taste for curries and regularly enjoyed a spicy treat.

Eva was married to William Copeman and the couple had three children – Paul and his older siblings David and Jenny.

Before her marriage, Eva worked at Burtons Basket factory in Oldfield Lane, until it burnt down just before the outbreak of the Second World War.

She gave up work when David was born and William, known as Bill, was posted to fight overseas in Burma - he was away for six long years before returning home to Wisbech to continue his work as a printer at local firm Balding and Mansell.

He died in 1963 she never remarried but she did return to work as a cleaner at the Isle College where she remained until she retired.

She lived most of her life in Elizabeth Terrace and was a dedicated member of the Trinity Methodist Church.

Eva was very family orientated and after the lockedown once again enjoyed visits from her six grandchildren and four great grandchildren and, when they could not visit, she was Facetiming.