Lillian Levon, the widow of a Bermuda soldier who served in both the First and Second World Wars, has died just short of her 100th birthday.

“She was an amazing woman; I’m honoured that I was named after her,” said her niece, Lillian Robinson, who counted her as a very close friend.

Mrs Levon’s passing marked the end of a chapter in Bermuda’s history, said Carol Everson, a case worker with the Bermuda Legion.

“She was the island’s last living link with the First World War through her late husband, Joseph Levon, who served with the Bermuda Militia Artillery at the Somme and other battles, and then served full-time in the Second World War at the barracks in St David’s.”

Mrs Levon spoke often of her life as an army wife, in the days when the BMA would march to Warwick Camp with her husband leading the band as a drummer — often with her marching alongside from their home at Bailey’s Bay.

She and her niece were nicknamed “the two Lillians”, Mrs Robinson said.

“Auntie was full of life and full of love,” she said, recalling how Mrs Levon, who walked with a stick, would wave it if a youngster did not behave.

“When she finished telling you off, she would give you so much love. I didn’t run away from her discipline.

“She loved to be among people, and she loved to travel. She would go on cruises with her three sisters, and must have visited ever state in the US.”

A matriarch to many in her extended family, Mrs Levon also raised generations of children in the Bardgett family until she retired. Michael Levon Sr, her grandson, said Mrs Levon’s personality had “a profound impact on everybody she spoke to”, adding that she had a passion for singing in church.

“She was a kind-hearted person, very stern as well, who was loved by everybody.”

She would have turned 100 three weeks from today, on February 11.

Mrs Levon’s funeral will be held on Tuesday at 11am at Glory Temple, Southside, in St David’s, followed by her interment in St Peter’s Cemetery, St George’s.