LACONIA - Rachel Gilbert, the city's oldest resident, died Thursday.

Gilbert, who was born in Laconia in 1911, was 104 and just three weeks from her 105th birthday, The Citizen reported.

Gilbert was the second child in the Morin family, which included 11 children, and went to Sacred Heart School in Laconia, finishing high school in Canada.

She graduated from Concord Business College in 1929 with a degree in accounting. She worked as a bookkeeper at the Diamond Match Lumber Store.

She married Eugene Gilbert, of Laconia, in 1938, and had three children. The couple lived on Highland Street and launched Eugene Gilbert Contractor in 1947.

Gilbert moved from her home to the Belknap County Home when she was 101.

Her children remember a woman who was an excellent cook, played piano and loved NASCAR.