Ruth Applin always made the world a better place, Wiscasset Selectman Ben Rines Jr. said Tuesday. Applin, 100, died at home in Wiscasset Aug. 25.

First Congregational Church member Linda Winterberg of Wiscasset said Applin had been a role model for her all these years since the two met 30 years ago.

“As one of the most faithful members of our church, she worked tirelessly to support our women's group, the Organ Society, with her sewing, crocheting, and baking, and produced more quilts, pot holders, afghans, etc. than anyone could believe,” Winterberg recalled in an email Monday evening. “She was humble, cheerful, and full of humor and love for others. Like her contemporaries, Ruth Kierstead, Marge Morris, Joanna Bardo, etc, she was of a generation of strong women who never complained, but served God and their community with quiet grace and dignity. She will be missed by many, and long remembered.”

“We’ll miss her,” said Rines, whose father Ben Rines Sr. grew up next door to Applin. At a 1ooth birthday celebration for Applin at the Wiscasset Community Center last April, Rines Jr. presented her with the town’s replica Boston Post Cane for being the oldest resident.

In 2014, at 97, Applin became a second-time grand marshal of Wiscasset’s Fourth of July parade and afterward Rines presented her with the town’s award of appreciation for her many years of volunteerism and service. On Memorial Day 2015, American Legion Post 54 of Wiscasset awarded Applin a certificate of appreciation citing her outstanding service helping with its programs.

Post 54 Chaplain Dale Skillin went to school with Applin’s children and later knew her through her work on Legion beano games and other Legion activities and in the kitchen. “We really depended on her then,” he said Tuesday. Skillin recalled Applin as one of the most patriotic people in town. “She lifted the spirits of the townspeople,” and was always helping and very involved with the town, he said. “Those type of people are hard to come by now.”

Daughter Betty Applin, who lived with her on Churchill Street, said her mother lived a fruitful life, and was a very giving person. “She was selfless.” Applin added, although her mother moved to Wiscasset as a child to live with her aunt and uncle, and as a wife and mother briefly lived in Alna before moving back to Wiscasset, “I think she always considered Wiscasset her home.”

In a May 15, 2015 Wiscasset Newspaper interview as she prepared to celebrate her 80th year as a Wiscasset Academy alumna, Ruth Applin, then 98, attributed her longevity to good genes.