For close to 30 years, the woman affectionately known to many simply as Sister Ben, worked in the maternity ward at Shoalhaven District Hospital overseeing the safe arrival of thousands of babies and assisting mothers with their new arrivals.

But her birthing prowess goes back even further to the “Old Country” , England, in 1955.

Sister Ben passed away at Culburra Beach on June 20, aged 81.

Kristin Morag Benjamin was born on January 7, 1935 at Heathfield, Sussex England to Reginald and Catherine St John Horton.

The second eldest child in a family of four with siblings Mimi, Robert and Frances.

At the age of four they moved to Inverness, Scotland where she was educated at the local primary school Notre Dame Convent before going to high school at the Sacred Heart Convent in Aberdeen.

Once finishing her leaving certificate she embarked on her next adventure and in 1954 began her general nurses training at Westminster.

In 1955 she teamed up with two fellow nurses Patti and Renata whom became lifelong friends.

Between 1955-1958 Kris trained to be a midwife. The first part of her training was in Leeds Maternity Hospital followed by London.

During that time she spent three months “on the District” delivering mother’s babies at home just like the hit ABC TV series Call The Midwife.

She pedalled many miles on her trusty pushbike and in doing so began another lifelong friendship with Josie, whose son Jeffery she delivered at home.

Kristin, Patti and Renata got a flat together in early 1960 in Earls Court while still working at various hospitals in London.

After nursing an Australian patient, Kris and Patti travelled down under for a working holiday, arriving by ship in Melbourne in January 1961.

They worked in Frankston Hospital for a year, delivering lots of babies, before Kris travelled the Nullarbor across to Perth with two other nurses.

There she did general nursing at a repat hospital and spent a lot of time exploring WA and inland to Alice Springs and Darwin.

It wasn’t long before she again joined Patti, travelling to Queensland. Kris worked at Innisfail and Patti at Maryborough and they travelled throughout Far North Queensland.

In late 1962 they journeyed to Tasmania, delivering more babies and by mid 1963 it was time for Kris to go home to England.

Settled back into her UK life, her sister introduced her to an Aussie guy called Keith, who was working in London as a tour guide for a South African firm Protea Tours .

Love blossomed and they went on many adventures around Europe before emigrating to Australia in 1966. Kris married Keith in Sydney on January 27, 1967.

They lived in Carrs Park, Sydney and she worked at St George Hospital.

Their first child Justine arrived in 1971, followed by Gavin in 1974.

In 1975 they moved their family to Culburra Beach where they built a home and a life.

She began work at the Shoalhaven Hospital in 1975 as a midwife and slowly became a household name and once again her amazing gift as a midwife made her more lifelong friends.

Many double shifts were taken just to stay and make sure her patient was okay and numerous trips made in an ambulance, with Keith get regular phone calls saying  “I’m not coming home I’m off to Sydney with a baby!”

But she never forgot her own family, juggling her shifts to be home for Christmas mornings or birthdays and any other special events.

When the kids started school she even blocked out one Monday a month to do canteen duties with her lifelong friends Steph, Ros and Bev.

Her love for travel continued and along with Keith and the kids every school holidays they would be off somewhere travelling around NSW.

She took Justine and Gavin to England to show them off and for six weeks showed them her heritage and met relatives.

Once the kids had grown Keith and Kris’ adventures began again and if they weren’t jetting off overseas they were touring Australia.

A highlight of Kris’ career would have to have been not only delivering countless beautiful babies but to have had the opportunity to deliver three of her five grandchildren and be in close proximity for her other two.

In August 2000 it was time for Sister Ben to retire so off she went with her travel bug and with Gavin living in Darwin it was the perfect opportunity to hitch up the caravan with Keith and tour their way up many times.

After missing her fast moving life as a midwife, she returned to Shoalhaven hospital as a casual staff member.

Eventually it was time to really retire and along came along her love of ceramics and dotting on her beloved grandkids.

In June 2015 she suffered a seizure which affected her life horrendously and she battled the effects for 12 months before passing away.

A funeral service for Sister Ben was held at the Shoalhaven Crematorium Garden at Worrigee on June 24.

She is survived by her husband Keith, Justine and Mick, Gavin and Larrelle and grandchildren, Ben, Beau, Keira, Chloe and Patrick.