There aren't many people left who can recount tales of Mount Isa before electricity, or of the days when there were no rules or regulations preventing CWA women from baking scones and cakes in the very same kitchen they cooked their family meals.

"It must've been 1956 or '57, when we lived in Townsville and Cyclone Agnes took the roof off our house," she remembered.

"It was the third disaster in as many years, and it was then we packed up and moved to Mount Isa with the thoughts of staying 12 to 15 months to earn our money."

Six decades and as many children later, her next dream is to live close enough to the sea to put her feet in every now and again.

But Mount Isa would be a hard place to leave.

When the Wilsons first arrived in what would then only be described as the small town of Mount Isa on the verge of a boom, they couldn't even consistently bathe in their home, but it became a hive of activity and memory for the family.

"When we first came here, this side of East Street had no electricity or a proper water system. We had a pipe but if you didn't get your water before 8, you didn't get it," she said.

"We would have scrub boards and all that old stuff, a few times we went to a friend's house who lived on the mine side who would let us wash there."

There's an air of nostalgia when discussing raising children in Mount Isa in those days for Mrs Wilson, as if she can see the stories playing out before her in the living room.

"I love this house and I've had so many memories here, but it's just a house now - it's the people who make it a home and without them it's different," Mrs Wilson said.

But the pictures of her six children, 23 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren surround Mrs Wilson when she's lonely, reminding her how much life has come from hers.

"They made me a big collage of photos one year for my birthday," she explains, describing the central piece on the living room wall, "and there's photos of the kids and grandkids and the kids after that to remind me how I started it all."

"I had five boys and a girl, I just kept trying to get another girl but it didn't work out too well for me," she said.

"My daughter would beg me, 'please mum can I have a sister', because the older three boys would gang up on her.

"There are still two boys in Mount Isa, one in Townsville, one in Mackay and one in Brisbane, my daughter passed away in 2008 from liver cancer, the chemo just didn't help her at all and it was devastating for me as my only daughter."

But continuing to look back on the better times, Mrs Wilson said if you were part of the family growing up, chances were the weekends were spent involved in athletics or swimming clubs.

"We started a swimming club when the kids were young and opened it up to everyone, just as something to keep kids off the street," she said.

"Nowadays they only want you in their club if you're going to be a champion, those kids need to know they can do something and don't need to be the best at it to have a good time."

The days of swimming and running are gone now that Mrs Wilson is in a permanent sling due to a loss of function in one arm, but having walked the streets of the city for 30 years as an Avon representative, she has well and truly put in her active miles.

"Back then there were 50 of us and we would cross the whole town going door-to-door taking about 100 houses each," Mrs Wilson said.

"A lot of the ladies didn't want to take the offices so that's what I did, I didn't mind it at all because quite often you'd be able to go in and get three or four customers at once.

"It was a good social thing too. I'd get to know my clients and catch up with them on my rounds. Sometimes if I knew their children I'd bring them little Christmas gifts or birthday presents. It was a nice job."

And when it wasn't pounding the pavement selling the latest products, it was cooking up a storm for the CWA.

"I've been a CWA member for 50 years now, it's very different from the old days though when we'd be baking cakes and scones," she said.

"I remember we were famous for pumpkin scones at our events, and back in those days we'd keep the doors open from dawn to dusk so everyone could stop in and have a rest.

"We'd get people stopping in on their way home from shopping, or the out-of-towners coming in from stations for medical reasons, it wasn't just a place open for events.

"Nowadays, the CWA only opens occasionally and there isn't even front door access for wheelchairs, you aren't able to cook anything for catering purposes if it isn't done in a proper stainless steel kitchen either. The rules have just gotten ridiculous."

Not one to slow down, Mrs Wilson can still be seen around town completing seniors exercise classes, including walking and tai chi, involved with the CWA, or completing rehabilitation programs to keep her active.

"I get so bored sitting at home now and I think it's because I was so active earlier in life," she said.

" I just keep wanting to go, doing things and meeting people."