The longest-serving member of the Active Retirement Ireland (ARI) organisation, who also served as the president of her local branch, has been remembered as someone who threw herself into every activity “whole-heartedly”.Phyllis McDonald, known as Phyl, died on Tuesday in Dún Laoghaire, south Dublin. She was 102.McDonald had joined the Dún Laoghaire Active Retirement Association (ARA), the first in the country, in 1978, making her the longest-serving member of the most established branch.In subsequent years, she volunteered her time as class captain, assistant-to-the-president, and served as president of the Dún Laoghaire ARA from 1993 to 1996.ARI is a voluntary organisation for retired and semi-retired people, with more than 24,000 members ranging in age from 50 to over 100.[ Quality of life rises with age, Dún Laoghaire retirement group hearsOpens in new window ]McDonald was remembered as a “great person” and “great leader” by close friend and ARA member Tony McCarthy. He said one of her biggest achievements while president was when the Dún Laoghaire ARA received the Irish Life National Volunteer Award with Dún Laoghaire Community College in 1993, awarded for promoting adult education.McCarthy recalled: “At the time ... people weren’t taking it [adult education] up, and she did a deal with the principal that if the members of Active Retirement in Dún Laoghaire got the courses for free, they would provide services for the canteen and the library.” He said McDonald was also “instrumental” in setting up the South Dublin Bowls League.McDonald was enthusiastic about outdoor and indoor bowls. McCarthy added that she was “unselfish in the time she gave to beginners and hopeless cases like myself” through her coaching.She also helped form a branch of the ARA in Gorey, Co Wexford.McCarthy had first met McDonald in 2007 when he attended his first ARA meeting, following his retirement the previous year. They developed a friendship and, along with two or three others, often went for coffee after Mass on a Sunday..[ One in three older people believe they will not get supports to age at homeOpens in new window ]“There was nothing bashful or pompous about her,” he said. “She could reach out to everybody and she did so. She was always there as a guiding hand.”He said her greatest contribution to the organisation was her wisdom and empathy.“It was a great experience knowing her. She was a wonderful woman.“It was her leadership, I think, that stuck out. She was always there to guide and to help.” McDonald is survived by two daughters and a son.