But it was a simple trip to the shops on Sydney's lower north shore that claimed the life of the colourful 94-year-old.

Mrs King's family spoke for the first time on Thursday about the shock and disbelief of losing their "Aunty Sue" in an alleged hit-and-run on the Pacific Highway at Crows Nest on August 18.

A taxi driver and part-time university lecturer, Mohammad "Mark" Farhad, was charged with hitting Mrs King just before midday, then speeding off and continuing to work for six hours until his bosses at Taxis Combined called him back to the depot to be questioned.

"You think you'll be able to prepare for somebody to pass away when you get to that age," said Mrs King's nephew, David Cooper.

"We really didn't think she would pass away. We thought she would get to 100. To lose her in that way just breaks your heart. No one  deserves to leave this Earth after 94 years in that manner."

Her niece, Donna Cooper, said Mrs King was a fiercely independent woman whose life was peppered with remarkable achievements.

She taught herself to ski at the age of 55. She flew planes with the women's auxiliary air force in World War II.

She boarded a boat from England in the 1950s in search of a new life in Australia and bought a banana plantation in Mullumbimby.

She travelled the world, took a keen interest in animal conservation and loved making leather goods or knitted clothing for her family - but nothing made her happier than sitting in her courtyard, with the sun on her back and  symphony music playing.

She lived with her late sister Margaret on the lower north shore  since divorcing her husband in the 1970s and, even in her 90s, she still made regular trips to the theatre and music concerts.

She had tickets to the Opera House for Saturday evening, four days after she died.

"She lived a remarkable life," Mrs Cooper told a funeral service on Thursday. "She was a social, active person who, at 94, still took the bus to wherever she wanted to go."

It was another regular bus trip from the shops on August 18 that ended in tragedy for Mrs King.

After getting off the bus near the corner of Rocklands Road and the Pacific Highway, she waited to cross the road with her walking cane in one hand and her shopping trolley in the other.

Police will allege Dr Farhad was turning right onto the Pacific Highway on a green arrow but was supposed to give way for pedestrians also crossing on a green light.

He told police he felt a bump and then "panicked and felt traumatised".

Witnesses saw him drag Mrs King for 30 metres before slowing momentarily and then speeding off down a side street.

Dr Farhad took two more fares that afternoon before being called back to the depot, where he was arrested.

He was granted bail and will reappear in court in October.