Worthing woman who was Everton's oldest fan counted actor Laurence Olivier and ballerina Lydia Sokolova among her connections

She lived to 105 and five months before she died on July 12, she was lauded by Everton Football Club as its oldest fan, receiving a box of treats including a scarf, Everton fleece blanket and mug for her birthday on February 20.

Son Chris Moody said his mum's caring nature was shown throughout her life but she was very modest about her time as a nurse. He said: "Joan not only lived a very long life but a very full life. Living to 105 is quite an achievement but it does have its downside – most of the people Joan knew and loved died before her, and many others only knew her as an old lady."

Joan was born in Cyril Mansions, overlooking Battersea Park, on February 20, 1917. She was the second of three daughters born to George and Eleanor Taylor. Chris said: "The world then was very different from today – World War One was still raging, there was no television, no radio, precious little electricity and still plenty of horse-drawn transport.

"It is hard to imagine the changes Mum experienced in her lifetime. She had an idyllic childhood, full of fun. She was very close to her elder sister, Wendy, and together they got up to all sorts of escapades."One incident that Joan loved to recount was the time they were caught red-handed stealing peas from their grandfather’s allotment.

The girls tried to get away on Wendy’s bike but in their haste to escape, Joan’s foot slipped off the pedal and they simply fell in a heap – ending up grazed and bruised, as well as suitably chastised by their granddad when he got hold of them.

When the family lived in Shoreham, Joan and Wendy would go swimming in the sea before school and spend hours playing in the ruins of the old fort in the evenings. Chris said: "Summer holidays would be spent in the Scottish countryside with their grandparents. Schooling was at the convent in Worthing, where Mum did well academically but won no stars for good behaviour. And though she expressed interest in being a nun at one stage – it clearly wasn’t something she was cut out for."

Joan's first job was at Fortnum & Mason, swiftly followed by a spell in the book department of Selfridges, where she was in charge of stock control. From then, she literally followed in her sister’s footsteps, taking over Wendy’s job as a dental nurse at a Hampstead practice.

Chris said: "This wasn’t just any old dental practice – Laurence Olivier and the famous ballerina Lydia Sokolova were clients. Joan used to say that Olivier took a bit of shine to her but I have no way of knowing if that really was the true."

When the Second World War broke out, Joan was 22. The family moved to Angmering to avoid the worst of the bombing and Joan swapped from being a dental nurse to nursing at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester.

Chris said: "Joan loved nursing and took to it like a duck to water. She loved feeling she was being useful, she loved caring for people and she loved the hard work. She particularly loved working in the operating theatre and would take a great interest in what the surgeon was doing.

"Apparently on one occasion she was observing an operation at such a close quarters that the surgeon turned to her and said 'Here, nurse, here is the scalpel, if you are so interested perhaps you would like to do the operation yourself'.

"It is hard for us to imagine what life was like as a nurse at that tender age in the middle of a world war. Dealing with badly burned airmen and children seriously injured by bombing could not have been easy. But Mum always looked back on those times with pleasure."

Like many of the nurses at St Richard's, she regularly went to parties at RAF Tangmere when off duty. So it is perhaps no surprise that during these years, Joan had a fighter pilot boyfriend. Chris said: "He was an authentic flying ace, who, from time to time when returning from a mission, would fly over her house and dip his wings so she knew he was OK."

Life in Angmering was much to Joan’s liking both during and after the war. There were dances every Saturday night at the famous Blue Peter Club, often attended by quite a few West End celebrities alongside Joan in her latest frock. This led to her becoming good friends with Jacquie Hylton, the daughter of the bandleader Jack Hylton – Britain’s answer to Glenn Miller. Chris said this was a friendship that he understands led to 'quite a bit of party going'.

After the war, Joan’s nursing skills were no longer required, so she joined the Ministry of Food, where she was in charge of the distribution of ration books for the Worthing area. When rationing ended, she then joined the South Eastern Electricity Board as a clerk. This was a move that changed her life, as it was here she met her future husband, electrical engineer John Moody, a widower with a young daughter.

Chris said: "They fell in love, married and before you knew it they had produced me. Joan was 39 at the time – quite late to embark on wedded bliss. Still, she adapted swiftly from being an independent woman to being a home maker, a mother and a stepmother. She was always loving, always supportive and was always there if you were in trouble – no matter what. This was period of contented and happy family life. I hardly remember a cross word being said between my parents."

Joan still took on new challenges, including learning to drive and appearing on stage at the Pier Pavilion in Worthing in a Tiller Girl routine, complete with high kicking. Joan was also a great sports fan. She loved cricket, football and tennis and enjoyed going to see Sussex play at Hove with John, as well as going to Goodison Park to see her beloved Everton play when she could.

Chris said: "Life, though, wasn’t always a bowl of cherries and as time passed, Mum’s caring nature was again called upon. First she looked after her mother for many years after she fell and broke her hip, and then later when John had a stroke and ended up in a nursing home, she visited him every day. After they had both passed away, she determined to make the best of her later years. With her renewed independence, she bought a little car, travelled extensively and read copiously.

"I remember offering to take her on holiday with the small inheritance I received from my dad and asking her where she would like to go, imagining she would suggest something like Paris or Rome, but quick as flash she says Hong Kong. That was typical of Mum. Subsequently she travelled as far afield as South Africa, Canada and China. The last of these trips she unbelievably undertook on her own when in her late 80s. That speaks volumes for her attitude to life and if there is one thing we can learn from Joan’s life, it is the power of positive thinking.

"Not only did she always make the best of every situation but she was determined to enjoy every day. And she just about managed it. She drove her little car until she was 94, looked after herself without assistance until she broke her hip at the age of 98, lived in her own home until she was 105 and was still going down the pub twice a week for lunch as late as April this year. She was indeed remarkable."

The only sadness for Chris was that his mum’s precious wedding and engagement rings went missing during the final month of her life. He has reported the matter to Sussex Police but has been told that although the crime has been recorded on its systems, due to there being no line of enquiry, police have not been able to start an investigation.