Her letters were always pithy, never of rancour and more often than not positive observations about life in Canberra. And often infused with the love of her Christian faith.
Evelyn Bean, of Ainslie, a contributor to the letters pages of The Canberra Times, for almost 40 years, passed away on Tuesday, at the age of 87.
She wrote one last letter which she requested be published after her death, which it is - in Saturday's letters pages.
Typical of Mrs Bean, the letter is humble, life-affirming and complimentary, farewelling her "dear friends" and hoping "to see you later".
"I've enjoyed it all," she wrote.
Mrs Bean told The Canberra Times in 2015 in a feature on prominent names in the letter pages that she started writing letters to the editor in 1980, first on a typewriter, prompted into print in response to an article by noted staff atheist at the time, Ian Warden.
"I like to share my faith and encourage people when I see something in the paper, give them a good word and because I have a following. People like watching for my letters," she said.
Cameron Ross, who edited the letters pages for 10 years, said Mrs Bean was "always unfailingly polite" and one of the paper's greatest advocates.
"She was always upbeat. She took a positive view about most things," Mr Ross said.
"She was always saying, 'That was a terrific photograph on page 1' or 'I really enjoyed that story'.
"We get a lot of brickbats at The Canberra Times and not many bouquets and it was nice to get the occasional bouquet from Evelyn."
Mrs Bean most recently lived in at the Goodwin retirement village at Ainslie and each morning went down three levels in the lift to collect three copies of the paper for herself and other residents.
"It gives me a reason to get up in the morning," she said in 2015.
The youngest of 10 children, she was born in the family home in Mosman, Sydney, on January 15, 1930, her parents Scottish immigrants.
Mrs Bean is survived by her beloved husband of 68 years, Ron. She met him while on holidays in Canberra at Wilkie's Top Hat cafe in Manuka, where he was the apprentice pastry chef.
She later asked Ron to marry her during a trip on a Sydney ferry. They were married in Mosman on August 14, 1948 and moved to Narrabundah after their honeymoon, first to 11th Street and then to 9th Street.
They also lived in Faunce Crescent and later Boronia Drive in O'Connor, the latter their long-term family home.
Mr Bean opened Canberra's second floor-sanding and cleaning business in 1950 and retired in 1984, one of his last jobs sanding and polishing the floors of the National Gallery.
The couple had four children, 11 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.
Their grandson Tim Bean said the passing of Mrs Bean left "a massive gap in our family".
"She was such a gracious lady and she loved her family fiercely, it was her everything," he said.
"She was loving, caring, intelligent and always had an opinion to give. She also had a quick wit and made us laugh so much."