CONGRATULATIONS have been pouring in for Brisbane community volunteer Jeanette Ayre, one of many Catholics honoured on the Queen’s Birthday list.
“It’s humbling, very humbling to be recognised because it’s something I love to do and always have,” the energetic 66-year-old said after learning she’d received an Order of Australia Medal.
Ms Ayre is known for making a difference in other people’s lives as a community volunteer over more than 40 years, including 27 years with the St Vincent de Paul Society.
Her speciality is music, a ministry she shares in her Kangaroo Point East Brisbane parish, but also at two aged care homes – Mary Crest Retirement Home and Holland Park Aged Care – as well as the non-profit community care centre, Footprints in Brisbane.
“I take my guitar along and do singalongs,” Ms Ayre said.
“It’s just magic – the power of music. It’s just the greatest joy.
“And it’s been the most rewarding thing.”
Tragedy struck in 2018, when Ms Ayre lost her son Matthew “after a massive bleed to the brain”.
“(He) came home from work with a headache, laid down and … never woke up again,” she said.
“Amazingly I think music saved me.”
Ms Ayre visits palliative care patients and regularly performs for people experiencing disability, mental illness, or are at risk of homelessness.
“It’s not about me. It’s about the guitar and the music and bringing back the good times, the emotions and then we talk about how everybody is – what they’ve done in their lives and the songs that remind them… we have tears, we have joy and it just overwhelming to me to see this,” she said.
Ms Ayre recommends volunteering for anyone “wanting to make a difference” in the community, and particularly in visiting the elderly.
“Even if it’s not singing, it can be listening to people tell their stories,” she said.
“Anyone who has that ability, I would say please just go and sit and talk to someone. Especially the people that don’t have family coming to visit all the time – they are the ones that need us the most.”
Even during COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions Ms Ayre adapted her regular singing using zoom technology to join in singing for Sunday morning parish Mass webcasts, and scheduling calls to replace face-to-face singalongs.
Another volunteer honoured in the Queen’s Birthday list was Joan Kathleen Rose, who died aged 100 last November. She was honoured with an OAM for decades of service to community health as a volunteer at the Mater Children’s Hospital and Xavier Home for Crippled Children.
Daughter Maree Rose has paid tribute to her mother’s volunteer legacy.
“Mum commenced her voluntary work after my brother John aged 2 died in the Mater Children’s Hospital in 1963,” she said.
“She went to Xavier Home for Crippled Children were she would take children to the Mater for their medical treatment.
“One of the Mercy sisters asked mum if she would like to join the Mater Children’s Ladies Auxiliary. She did join the auxiliary and spent more than 30 years raising money for various medical equipment.
“She was instrumental in delivering the first family room for parents who were waiting for children in ICU.”
Maree Rose said her mother’s example inspired her to became a social worker.
“I am currently working for Brisbane Catholic Education as a school counsellor. I am also the Chair of the Archdiocesan Justice & Peace Commission,” she said.
Former columnist for The Catholic Leader, Anna Krohn is another to receive an OAM, for her service to the Catholic Church in Australia.
Ms Krohn chaired the Australian Catholic Life, Marriage and Family Council, and served as president of the Catholic Women’s League of Victoria and Wagga Wagga.
Ms Krohn is also a national convenor of the Anima Women’s Network and a board member of the Caroline Chisholm Library Melbourne.
Former Chief Justice of Queensland, Tim Carmody, was appointed as Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his significant service to the law and the judiciary.
Son of a meat worker and a church cleaner, Mr Carmody graduated from Nudgee College, studied law part time at the Queensland University of Technology and rose to become the top judge in Queensland.
His elevation directly from Chief Magistrate to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by the Newman government in 2014, caused public controversy and was attacked from within the legal fraternity.
While on leave seeking back treatment, Mr Carmody offered to resign, and this was welcomed by Attorney-General Yvette D’Arth as putting the judiciary before himself.
He continued as Supreme Court judge and supplementary QCAT member until he resigned from the bench with effect from September 10, 2019.
