Pat was born in Rockhampton on the 16th of March 1932 and is a confessed Rocky girl through and through. Even though she did eventually move to Gracemere, she says,
“I never got too far away from Rocky, 10 minutes was my maximum.”
Pat fondly remembers her childhood. Her father was a Blacksmith and her mother a homemaker. She has one younger brother, who was her junior by 12 years. Some of her favourite memories are camping at the beach with her family.
She went to Berseker State School until grade 5 when she moved to Central Girls School until she graduated in grade 10. During her school years Pat loved to play tennis and was a brilliant violin player. Her favourite class at school was art where she loved painting and doing anything creative.
After Pat graduated, she went to work at Kennas Accountants, which is still in operation today. She worked there until she married her husband, Alwin at the age of 24. Alwin and Pat met at a church dance and they were married in 1956. During that time married women didn’t continue to work so Pat retired from Kennas Accounting and became a homemaker.
Pat and Alwin were sadly told that they could never have children, so they began the process of adoption. After a lengthy wait and tiring process Pat and Alwin adopted two children within 18 months of each other. A few years after their first two children joined their family a miracle happened, and Pat fell pregnant herself, eventually having two children naturally.
“You know what they say, you adopt, and it will happen naturally, that’s what happened to me.”
So, her family of two grew to four, which Pat of course loved.
After her children grew up and left home Pat went back to work at Kennas to keep her busy and active. Pat continued to work before entering her retirement years where she still kept busy. She was a very keen bowler and still has many trophy’s decorating her room from competitions she won.
Pat was also dedicated to her community and worked with other members of her Pensioners Australia group to raise money for local charities each year. Pat was awarded an Australia Day Award for her community service and is still most proud of that accolade.
“That trophy is still my favourite, we all worked so hard, and its nice to have the recognition.”
Pat is a fresh face to our Benevolent Living family but has taken advantage of almost every social occasion here. You’ll see Pat’s face at Friday Morning Tea and Happy Hour every week!