08/09/2026
Today I photographed the lovely Sue.
She was a hard one to get to commit to this Golden age session. But some of the other ladies at Hillview op shop kept hassling her until she agreed.
At 86 years old she is a powerhouse who still gives her time 4 days a week volunteering. After all she has endured, she really is so remarkable.
Sue was born in Elsternwick Melbourne during the second world war on November 20th 1940. She was given the most popular name in the world at that time "Suzanne Louise" meaning lily or rose. She has had the love of these and all flowers since then, her gardens have told of her love for flowers as did the paintings she did in the 90's.
Sue was the third of three girls, Jennifer, and Wendy were their names. She was born with a club foot and learned to walk with a plaster on her leg. She had this cast on her left leg for 6 months on and 6 months off until she went to school. As a child she just took the disability for granted, but as a growing teenager she was very conscious of it. Her Father was an accountant for Hoyt's theatres. Her mother collected rents & worked at Queen Victoria hospital in accounts.
She lived with her family in the seaside town of Sandringham Victoria, and grew to love the sea, the salt the sand and the shells. She attended Firbank, a lady's college in Sandringham. At the age of 10 the family moved to Croydon, which was then a small country town in 1950. They lived on 2 acres, had goats and pet sheep as well as cats and chooks. They wandered and played in the hills and paddocks around Croydon/Mooralbark which are now housing subdivisions.
From there they attended Merton Hall, the Church of England Girls Grammar School in South Yarra. This meant quite a bit of travelling, but all the homework was done on the train, so it was not all bad. Every school holidays for a number of years, & from a young age, they travelled by train unescorted to Horsham then on to Natimuk, where they spent hours of freedom on their grandparents farm, they learned to ride horses, dig up rabbit burrows, catch rats at night, feed baby lambs, wander the hills and admire the silvery salt lakes, catch tadpoles, go yabbying, milk cows etc. They were wonderful times, especially running downhill in an old in water tank, not knowing where it was going, but running inside it.
When Sue was just 16, she left school and attained a job with the Department of External Affairs in Melbourne. She was there until she could start nursing at the age of 17 and a 1/2. It was here she taught herself to type, this enabled her to do more than her job required. She met people like Lord Casey, Douglas Wilkie and Phillip Law, who manned the first ship the "Thala Dan" to Antarctica. They were interesting years.
In this period, she developed Tuberculosis. It was only detected due to large x ray stations being set up at Melbourne station & due to knowing other with the illness she got tested. They completed a procedure called a Mantoux test. they put a needle under the skin & if infected it would leave a welt in the arm. Sue said hers became huge & swollen She had no symptoms, so no idea she had it. The aim was to encapsulate it so it could not destroy her lungs. Most patients were sent to a sanitorium for treatment, but her Mother insisted on keeping her at home to be cared for. Sue had to be isolated for 6 months & had treatment which thankfully contained it.
She enrolled in nursing at Prince Henry's Hospital in Melbourne and spent the next three years attaining her nursing certificate. It was hard work, 10-12 hours per day, nurses had much more manual work to do than the nurses of today. But she enjoyed work (mostly) & passed with flying colours.
Then the wanderlust" struck. She had heard that nurses were wanted on Thursday Island. She wasn't sure exactly where it was but applied for a job there all the same. (It is situated on the tip of Australia, 90 miles from New Guinea) She was accepted and commenced work in October 1962. Her first flight in a plane absolutely thrilled and frightened her, as they flew out of Cairns towards Horn Island. The air strip on Horn Island had been made during the war in the 40's, and was small, but accommodated the Focker Friendship plane. The passengers had to then get on an antiquated ferry to get to Thursday Island. Sue had met two nurses from the Royal Melbourne Hospital on the plane, and by the time they reached the island, they had cemented a friendship that lasted for the rest of their lives.
As they reached the wharf, it looked like everyone on the island had come to look the new nurses over. There were waves and cheers and a lot of happy faces. What a welcome
The work was the same as in any other hospital, except all the patients were islanders and aboriginal. Black and brown faces instead of white. Sue had never seen a coloured person before so this was quite a novelty.
On the Saturday night after arriving, a party was given for the new nurses to meet most of the young single men, and that is when Sue met Alan, the love of her life. He had migrated from England to start a different life in Australia. Their dates included bike riding, walking along the beach or the road, walking up the hill called Green hill, walking a couple of miles into "town" to have a milk shake. There was not much else to do other than fishing. This went on for the 6 months that Sue had signed on for and she left to return to Melbourne in the March of 1963. Alan had signed on for 12 months and he followed her to Melbourne in the August of that year.
Sue then signed up to do the Midwifery course at the Royal Woman's hospital Melbourne, which she thoroughly enjoyed and topped her hospital exams by getting 99 percent in her final exams. After that she applied for a job in a Surgeons rooms and worked closely with Mr Desmond Hurley, a Colin Street specialist for 2 years. He did not wish her to leave, but as Alan had moved to Tasmania with his job, she had to go to be with him. They were engaged by this time.. On her first day in Tasmania, she gained employment with a firm of doctors, where she was for 18 months and then she changed jobs and worked for the government in the school medical division. This job took her all over the north east of the state of Tasmania where she tested eyes and ears of the school children and learned to cope with any medical problems that arose in those schools.
Two weeks after arriving in Tasmania they were married in the Seventh Day Adventist church in Launceston as Sue did not wish to be married in a registry office "Any Church would do" so long as it was a church.
Sue's parents were against the marriage, as Alan did not have a profession, money or position in the community.
Sue and Alan were not Seventh Day Adventists, but as their bible studies progressed they realized that this is what they wanted, and were baptized about a year after they were married and as the children were born they dedicated them to the Lord. They were blessed with four boys, Dean, lan, Brad and David. They then set about like magpies providing for their needs and their schooling. Alan started a "road sweeping business" unknown before in Tasmania, and it thrived and grew. This kept food on the table, while they remained in Tasmania.
They left Tasmania in 1984, so the boys could have the benefit of Christian secondary education, and be close to Avondale College, Sydney and Newcastle Universities,
They started a little business in 1985, making potting mix, bagging manures, barks and fertilizers which grew considerably and was able to employ the boys as well as local people. Sue learned to drive a fork lift truck and a front end loader, and many of you would have seen her on these machines. Loading 20 pallets of finished product onto a semi trailer was her forte. Some of her staff considered her "the best boss they had ever had" and one employee who later became a supervisor for another company, wished to model his efforts as a supervisor on Sue's example.
In 1996 Sue found out sha had breast cancer & had to undergo surgery to completely remove one breast.
In the year 2000 the business took a bad turn and the 10 employees all had to be laid off. This was a sad day for everyone, as all had worked so hard to help build the business up. Sue and Alan continued to work as a two man team for a year, but it was like beating their heads against a brick wall. They sold most of the machinery to another firm and retired from active work.
They bought a school bus from a Sydney bus company, and decked it out. They called it "Rolling Thunder" and then had the best 9 years. They first travelled the East coast, then Inland Queensland and NSW and the NT. Then they decided they were only "taking" and not giving back, so they joined "Farm Sitters" and went from farm to farm, helping the farmers on a volunteer basis, learning new skills and meeting new people. They learnt to drench sheep, help with fencing, feed sheep and cattle in drought stricken NSW, plus many more farm skills, and general farm work. It was very rewarding.
Sadly Alan passed away on 4th November 2010 just after they had returned from a farm at Cunnamulla. He had had no symptoms, until his right lung collapsed. The asbestos disease that he had contracted in Tasmania in the 1970's had killed him. They didn't know he had it until it was almost final.
Sue and her family were devastated. She threw herself into volunteer work, working for the women's refuge in the Cessnock OP shop and the Asian aid op shop.
She attended the spinning club and the lapidary club, to ease the pain and keep doing something. Her friends were wonderful, her family was wonderful, but life was not the same. Her soul mate of 48 years had gone BUT Alan's faith in the last 12 months of his life had shown her great strength, and that helped her to cope with her loss. Her hope was his hope, that they would meet again on the Resurrection morning and spend Eternity together with their boys, grandchildren, loved ones and Jesus.
Sue and Alan will sleep together in God's little acre, until Jesus comes.
In 2012 Sue's breast cancer returned & she had to have the other breast removed as well as a total of 32 lymph nodes.
Sadly her son Dean died of Bowel Cancer in August 2020, He was living in the USA so Sue travelled there 10 times in 6 years to be with him & his wife. She wanted to be there to support him with the necessary surgery & chemotherapy. She was lucky to travel to Canada, Alaska, Kentucky, Ohio & The Grand Canyon solo while times were quiet between Dean's treatments. They nursed Dean at home until his final days. Covid was in full swing so she came home soon after he passed away.
She then joined the Adra Op shop ( Now Hillview) and spent many hours per week concentrating on volunteering, mainly in Jewellery & Haberdashery. With the volume of donations it has become almost a fulltime job. She still works 4 days a week 6-7 hours a day. She has made some very special friends there & reconnected with many others.
In 2023 Sue underwent open heart surgery for a severely leaking Mitral valve. Following surgery & 6 Cardioversions her body weakened & she found it hard to get around normally. It was hard to get up just one step. With time & determination her busy life has resumed & she was able return to most of her normal activities including her volunteering.
