AT SIX in the morning, Betty Stabler would walk through the fog to the police station at Rockhampton.

The Second World War was in full swing and before starting work, she would help plot the paths of planes flying through the sky.

Those with trained eyes would watch the skies and call volunteers like Mrs Stabler, who would use a stick to push markers around a big table.

"They used to ring up and track at the police station to make sure we weren't getting attacked,” Mrs Stabler said.

"It was a different world, there were thousands camped on the road from Yeppoon to Rockhampton.”

Mrs Stabler still remembers the time as clear as day.

After calling Warwick home for 69 years, she is excited to be moving back to the beach at Rockhampton.

Mrs Stabler moved to Warwick in 1948 with her husband Thomas, setting up Stabler's Shop where Shell now sits on Albion St.

Their four children, Graham, Margaret, John and Robert were her greatest achievements while here, she said.

But she said her contributions extended well beyond her immediate family.

In 1992, she helped establish U3A in Warwick, a community group promoting healthy ageing through educational activities.

"I always had a fixation about education because my maternal grandmother didn't want me to go to school,” she said.

Mrs Stabler also helped establish St Mark's Church of England and the War Widows Guild, as well as being involved in a number of groups including the Arts Society and Forum.

She delighted in putting together a humorous speech for audiences at Forum.

"I made a habit of writing funny speeches, it was part of the heritage from my father,” she said.

"I had to learn not to laugh at my own jokes, but I don't think I ever learnt.

"I'd look very, very proper but the trouble was if it was too proper people might think I'd be offended if they laughed.”

Friends are what Mrs Stabler will miss most when she moves, but the draw of the sea has become too strong.

"I like the sand, the food that comes out of it and the sound of it at night,” Mrs Stabler said.