ONE hundred and two year-old Florence Marshall used to fall off horses and climb straight back up as a country girl – and that is just what she is doing after thieves stole some of her most prized possessions.
Thieves stole antique furniture from Mrs Marshall’s inner Brisbane home at Wilston in the early hours of March 13 while she was staying with her daughter at Bracken Ridge.
But she is determined to move back to her home with her little terrier, Lucy, who she says is a good watchdog.
Among the goods stolen was a silky oak dining suite Mrs Marshall and her late husband Frank had had since they were married almost 74 years ago.
The thieves also stole a tea set which was a wedding present from Mrs Marshall’s parents, an antique sideboard containing needlework she had done over many years, a dressing table and her refrigerator.
Mrs Marshall, who has lived in the house for 68 years, is a parishioner at Wilston and more recently in Bracken Ridge after regular visits to her daughter, Mary Baxter.
She said it was devastating to come back to her house and see that her furniture had been stolen.
The great-grandmother, who still lives on her own and likes to get around without her walking stick as much as she can, says she has forgiven the thieves.
Mrs Baxter and her sister Claire Pokorski said their parents had been frugal all their lives.
Mrs Baxter said her mother was still recovering from the death of her husband, Frank, who died last June at the age of 100.
