GRAND old lady Kathleen Kemmet toasted her 100th birthday with former pupils from the successful Glasgow private school she set up in 1944.
Together with family and friends they raised a glass to the headteacher who inspired hundreds of the city's children.
Mrs Kemmet founded St Ronan's Preparatory School for children aged 5 to 8.
Her son, Gerald, was due to start primary, but she was unimpressed by the local school and believed she could do a better job herself.
The Pollokshields school flourished, from a class of four in an upstairs bedroom, to a thriving South Side institution with more than 500 pupils.
Mrs Kemmet, who still lives in Pollokshields, continued to teach at St Ronan's until she retired and sold it to Craigholme School for Girls in 1992.
Mrs Kemmet said: "I loved having the school and taught in it right up until I sold it.
"My former pupils are all successful."
Her husband died in 1967 while her son Gerald, 73, lives in Paris. Her younger son Eric died in 1987.
On receiving her telegram from the Queen Mrs Kemmet said: "I don't know how much it put her out but it was very considerate of her."
The prep school's former students boast a mix of surgeons, lawyers, GMTV's LA correspondent Carla Romano and Dr Neil MacGregor, the high-profile director of the British Museum.
Granddaughter Larissa Kemmet, a journalist, attended the school and her mum, Irene, was a teacher there.
Larissa said: "I have really happy memories of being at the school but it was a bit odd having my mum and my gran as my teachers."
The centenarian battled back from a stay in the Southern General having suffered four heart attacks.
And she credits her recovery to the fact her consultant was a former pupil at St Ronan's.
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