FEW could match the remarkable life's journey of Albury Aboriginal elder Nancy Rooke.
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The Wiradjuri woman grew up in a dirt-floored hut which had pieces of abandoned tin for walls and no electricity.
It was on the edge of the Murrumbidgee River town of Narrandera.
Yet despite that hardship and witnessing fellow children taken away, Aunty Nancy focussed on the kinship and kindnesses that she experienced as a girl.
"You could go into any place and they'd give whatever they had to eat and drink."
Such generosity of spirit flowed through Aunty Nancy and was evident to anybody who had the pleasure of her company.
Thousands heard her words delivered at Welcome to Country ceremonies or had the chance to learn more about Indigenous culture through her speaking of her possum skin coat.
In 2009, Aunty Nancy received an Order of Australia Medal for services to the Indigenous community which included initiating the Wiradjuri Home Care Service and fostering education.
At the time, Aunty Nancy said "I don't like to get political", but that did not mean she ignored struggles and societal changes affecting Aborigines.
In 2000 in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics, Aunty Nancy told of "gut wrenching" memories of seeing children taken and her hurt at Prime Minister John Howard saying the stolen generation did not exist.
Asked about her goodwill in the face of such trauma and its legacy, Aunty Nancy cited the words of her relative and fellow Indigenous educator the late Eddie Kneebone.
"I find that if you keep looking back you're going to fall over, aren't you?"
Rest in peace Aunty Nancy.