Nursing home staff have paid tribute to a 105-year-old British woman who had smoked since the age of 15 by cremating her with a packet of cigarettes and laying a large floral cigarette on her coffin.
Marie Ellis died of natural causes at the Eaton Lodge Nursing Home in Kent, south-east England, in early December and was cremated clutching a packet of her favourite cigarettes.
"We will always remember her for her smoking because the first thing she asked when she got up was 'can I have a cigarette'," matron Maria Kallis said.
Ms Kallis commissioned a large wreath in the shape of a cigarette, made with white and yellow crysanthemums, for the spinster's coffin.
The enigmatic Ms Ellis, an ex-typist, arrived at the nursing home 15 years ago.
Apart from her 15-a-day habit, she was also notorious amongst staff for her unhealthy eating habits, often asking for sugar in her soup and always demanding three sugars in her coffee.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1266399.htm