Born: August 20, 1947 in St Luke’s Private Hospital, Griffith, NSW.
Married: October 1, 1967 in St Laurence O’Toole’s Catholic Church, Forbes, NSW to Gerardus Stevens.
Children:
Gerard Michael Stevens: Born July 31, 1968 in Dalby, Qld.
Katrina Maria Stevens: Born October 22, 1969 in Brisbane, Qld.
Joanna Teresa Stevens: Born February 19, 1975 in Toowoomba, Qld.
Mary’s Memories:
This time I got my little curly-headed girl! At an early age she started to paint – she even painted herself silver from the soles of her feet to her neck with Silver Frost, used for the front of the stove! The next door neighbour, Mrs Condon, wanted to take her off my hands!
When we went to “Gunbar”, Terry loved to be with her Dad in the horse and cart and around the sheep. Her hair would get in such a mess of tangles and bindies and there would be screams when I tried to do it. One day, in desperation, I grabbed the scissors and cut it off – the end of the curls.
When we moved to “Rostella”, it was Jim and Annie Lack who wanted Terry, until they heard her swear. One day, when she was about seven or eight, she was sewing on the machine and ran the needle right through her finger. The needle broke and she came running to me. I grabbed the pliers and pulled it out.
Jim was bringing back strays one day from “Lanahuli” (next door) on the Fergie (tractor). A violent dust storm blew up – I had the babies in the hut and no amount of calling would bring her back. She followed the track and, fortunately, Jim crossed the track just as she came along. (Rotten kid!! Ed.)
Terry’s Story:
I started school at “Sharoon”. Peter used to drive the tractor over with us little kids on the trailer. The teacher left and I went to the convent in Bourke for one term. I was a couple of days late getting back for the second term because the river was up but the nuns had given my bed away. I went to Melbourne then with mum and dad for a holiday just before Tony was born. I was booked into a school there somewhere around the corner from Auntie Kit and Uncle Harold’s. I was going to board with them. Mum and Auntie Kit took me to town and bought all my school uniform. Then we went to the school and met the teachers.
while we were in Melbourne, mum and dad took all of us kids in to the city. We went to Myer where there was a sale on. Mick and Kathy played up something awful. I was a really good quiet kid. Mick and Kathy wouldn’t get on the escalator for a while until they were shown that it was safe. Then they wouldn’t get off it. Dad let us ride up and down for a while. I only went on it to look after Mick and Kathy. When the other customers had had enough of us they took us to the cafeteria.Mum said she was going to leave us behind and go home but dad persuaded her to take us with them.Thank goodness, otherwise we would probably still be there (riding up and down the escalator).
I remember that they took us to the zoo (always a good place to take a rowdy bunch of bush kids. Ed.) while we were there Auntie Kit saw a kid with his head in a rubbish bin. Thinking that it was one of us she gave him a slap on the bottom and said, “Get out of there you dirty little booger.” But when the head came up it wasn’t one of ours and we took off.
When it was time for mum and dad and the rest to leave they packed up, and so did I. They weren’t going to leave me behind, were they? I refused to stay and I went with them. So I was taken to Wellington where Colleen was. Fortunately the wore the same uniform so it wasn’t wasted. I stayed there until Easter 1958 and, like Peter, went home as a result of financial constraints. Dad died in September 1958, so other arrangements had to be made for my schooling. Sarah and Kevin took us younger kids to Yenda where we stayed with Nanna Mahy. Kevin went to his job in Bathurst but Sarah stayed with us at Nanna’s until mum came. I finished the school year at St Theresa’s, in Yenda.
I went back to Wellington in 1959. Mumbought the house at 11 Hill Street, Forbes during the Christmas holidays that year and we moved there early in 1960.I then went to the convent until the end of 1963 when I finished my Intermediate Certificate. In 1964 I went to TAFE in Forbes for a while, in the meantime looking for work. In September, when I was seventeen, I was successful in my application to go nursing at Charleville. I always wanted to be a missionary, but this was as far as I got. Here I met a really nice blue-eyed handsome young policeman, Gerry Stevens, when he came to the nurses quarters just before Christmas 1964 and we got into a water fight.
After we married in 1967 life turned into a game of hopscotch, from place to place. Not only that, we often moved two or three times in the same town. I married an itinerant and I’ve been packing my bags ever since. In fact, some bags have never been unpacked. The lifestyle goes with Gerry’s job, and I don’t mind at all. I’ve been lucky to experience life in the many different parts of Queensland – from the city to the west, and the north to the south. Each town has had its memories, and I’ve certainly met a wide variety of people.
Our first house together was in Dalby. At this particular time, Gerry was the only officer in the traffic branch on a motorbike, and was known throughout the area as “Leather Legs”. Even the little kids in town would say, “Make sure you ride your bike properly or Leather Legs will get you”. Our eldest, Gerard, was also born while we were in Dalby.
On December 18, 1968 we moved from Dalby to Brisbane where Gerry was in the Criminal Investigation Branch and the Undercover Squad. On the night Katrina was born, Gerry didn’t come home and my contractions were getting closer and closer. We didn’t have a telephone as the house we were living in was rented, so I went next door. Unfortunately, the children were at home by themselves and wouldn’t let me in. I think eventually they were convinced by my desperate state, and they finally let me in. Gerry was out lying under a hedge somewhere doing undercover work, so I rang police headquarters and tried to explain my situation. They had to call him on the radio! As it turned out, we made it to the hospital in plenty of time and everything turned out fine.
From Brisbane we went to Toowoomba in September 1971. We built a house in Mimosa Crt in 1973 and I was kept busy sewing curtains and making a nice garden. A lot happened in Toowoomba. Gerard and Katrina started school and Joanna was born.Gerry was kept very, very busy with his work. He often worked overtime, and when he wasn’t working overtime he was making a patio, or laying roof tiles or doing a course in something or another, etc, etc… (or drinking beer. Ed.) Joanna was born in Toowoomba on 19 February, 1975.
In March, 1977 we moved to the Gold Coast where Gerry had started work at the Surfers Paradise CIB in December, 1976, but it took us a while to sell the house in Toowoomba. we bought a nice big house at Burleigh Waters. Gerard and Katrina went to Marymount College at Burleigh Heads. Gerry worked long hours and was often called out during the night or while on days off. he also did a lot of special duty….official police work for private employers.
Late in 1977 Gerry was promoted to Sergeant and we moved to Jundah early in January, 1978. On the way out we bought some lunch at Quilpie and decided to eat it under a shady tree along the road. We drove for about 70km before we found a suitable tree. It was a stinking hot day and the margarine was melted, the tomatoes soft and the bread hot. The ant colony in the roof of the car were desperately abandoning ship. We drove on to Windorah, a dirty little place in the middle of the desert, where we had a cold drink in the pub, then on to Jundah.
It was 46 degrees when we arrived and, being Christmas holidays,the town was nearly deserted, but we found our way to the pub for a long, cold drink.
Our furniture had not yet arrived so we had to spend the night in the old hospital beds for which we were grateful. It was about 46 degrees for the next couple of days which was a helluva shock but it never got any worse.
The kids loved it at Jundah. It was very isolated, 210km to Longreach or 320km to Quilpie. The only bitumen was on the main street. A scud across the road and you couldn’t go anywhere. There was no television or video. These were just coming in when we were leaving three and a half years later. The kids amused themselves swimming in the Thomson River, fishing, camping and playing. Gerry and I enjoyed our time at Jundah too. There wasn’t much police work and Gerry was able to unwind. The social life was great. It was nothing to travel to Kleinschmidts at ‘Westerton’, Williams at ‘Warbreccan’ (or other places) up to 120km away for a BBQ or party. We played a lot of sport too.The far west tennis championships were held there in 1980 and Gerry and I won the mixed doubles!!
In 1981, Gerard started high school as a boarder at Downlands, in Toowoomba. Joanna, although only four, started primary in Jundah. In mid 1981 Gerry was promoted to Sergeant First Class and transferred to Broadbeach, and we bought a house with a pool at Mudgeeraba. That brought us much closer to Toowoomba and we were able to go and see Gerard regularly. We nearly always went to watch him play football (Rugby Union) which he was getting quite good at. We nearly always got caught when we went to Toowoomba. It would be a warm day at home and we would forget to take warm clothing. By the time Gerard played it was often very cold on the Downlands Oval.
Katrina and Joanna went to Marymount where Joanna tried out in the swimming trials at the ripe old age of seven and blitzed the field, so we started her on swimming training. This led to a long and successful swimming career that spanned the next nine years.
In January 1983 Gerry was appointed to Detective Sergeant First Class and transferred back to Toowoomba CIB as second in charge. Gerard became a ‘daygo’, and Katrina went to St Ursula’s and later also to Downlands. Joanna went to St Thomas Mores Primary school, St Ursula’s Junior High, and Downlands for her final two years.
Gerard’s football continued to improve and he was eventually selected in the Queensland Country Under 16’s side which contested the Australian Schoolboys Championships in Hobart in 1984. His team was narrowly beaten by Sydney but Gerard and three other boys from Downlands were selected in the Australian team to travel to New Zealand for several games, including one Test. Gerard didn’t go because of injuries he received not long before the team left. Australia won the test. Gerard duxed the College in the subject Physical Education. He was also Dwyer House Leader and played a side drum in the Cadet Training Corp Band.
Katrina too, won many prestigious awards at College including Ryan Memorial Award for Perseverance, Generosity and Co-operation, Fiona Herden Trophy for Sportswoman of the Year, the Leonie McGraine Award for Team Spirit, Effort and Performance in Sport, Fr baker Trophy for Girl Athletic Champion, and was Dwyer House Leader, Captain of the Open Netball team and the Athletic team. After Downlands Katrina went to Macauly Teacher Training College, Brisbane, where she studied hard for three years to get her Teaching Diploma. Upon graduating at the end of 1989 she got a job at St Joseph’s Convent, Millmerran, where she taught for three years and was then successful in obtaining a transfer to Mater Dae in Toowoomba, where she is still teaching. She loves her netball and was a very skillful player while at Downlands. Since graduating Katrina has continued to study part-time and completed her Bachelor of Education degree. She is now studying administration.
Joanna won hundreds of trophies and medals for her swimming and set numerous records. She re-wrote the record books at Downlands and set new times for every age and open event in her last year. She represented Queensland at the Australian Swimming Titles in Melbournein 1989. She too won many prestigious awards at Downlands. Coincidentally she followed Katrina’s example in winning the Ryan Memorial Award for Perseverance, Generosity and Co-operation, as well as the Phillippe Sambain Memorial Prize for Community Service. She too, was captain of the Open Netball team and the Swimming team. She also enjoyed Netball very much. She followed the tradition of being Dwyer House Leader. She is now in her third year studying at Queensland University of Technology in Bachelor of Business, majoring in public relations and marketing.
Gerry was promoted to Senior Sergeant at Toowoomba in July 1985 so for once we didn’t have to move.He was then promoted to Inspector in July 1987 and transferred to Brisbane, where he was in charge of the Examination Branch and later the Legal Section. We stayed in Toowoomba and Gerry would travel home, usually one night during the week and then the weekend. Luckily he was transferred back to Toowoomba in July 1990. In November, 1991 Gerry was promoted to Superintendent in charge of Toowoomba District.
That didn’t last long because in October 1992 he was promoted to Chief Superintendent for the Northern Region based in Townsville. This time I packed up too. By then Gerard had married Karen Smith, Katrina was teaching in Toowoomba and Joanna was at Uni in Brisbane. (So old Darby and Joan went off to Townsville in December 1992. Ed) When and where next?
The Watts Family 