RECEIVING a blessing from Pope Francis and a birthday message from the Queen were pretty special but not the highlight for Margaret Stephensen on turning 100 at the end of last year. It was being surrounded by more than 140 of her family and friends for Mass and a party in her home parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, ... Read More »
BILL Coombes has made it onto national television twice because of the beauty of his orchids – once was after one of Brisbane’s floods had wiped out his whole collection, about 600 plants. The late Colin Campbell visited Bill’s backyard at Fairfield twice for ABC’s Gardening Australia, first to tell the story of his loss and then to return and ... Read More »
JOYCE Parsons has been a friendly face to hundreds of vulnerable people seeking assistance from the St Vincent de Paul Society’s St Bernadine Conference in Regents Park. In September, Ms Parsons will celebrate her 20th year with the organisation, and next month, she will celebrate her 90th birthday. “If you try to be friendly to people, it’s marvellous how ... Read More »
LAUGHTER has proven to be the best and only medicine for Ruby Duffell and possibly the reason she’s made it to her 105th birthday. The mother-of-three from Brisbane turned 105 on July 3 at her home in Villa Maria, Fortitude Valley, where she’s lived for nearly a decade. Remarkably, Ruby doesn’t take any medication, not even the suggestion from doctors ... Read More »
BELIEVING in God is the reason Catholic mother-of-three Vera Acres has entered Brisbane’s 100-plus club. The former parishioner from St Luke’s in Buranda for 65 years said God had been good to her for the past 100 years “otherwise I don’t think I’d be alive now”. “Everybody asks me what the secret is, but there’s no secret,” Mrs Acres said. ... Read More »
WORKING hard and avoiding chocolate are the secrets to a long life, according to a St Vincent’s Care Services Kangaroo Point resident Margherita Vitanza who turned a remarkable 105 years last month. Mrs Vitanza celebrated her 105th birthday on September 22 with a birthday morning tea, surrounded by friends and family, including her son Vince Vitanza. “Everybody loves my mother,” ... Read More »
LOCHINVAR Josephite Sister Anne Cavanagh has double cause to celebrate this year – the 80th anniversary of her religious profession and her 100th birthday. The world was a different place when she was growing up in a large family in the Hastings River region of NSW. Anne Imelda Cavanagh was born on July 12, 1916, in Wauchope, and was the ... Read More »
COLIN Lowcock’s wish for his 100th birthday was to celebrate Mass with his family and friends – and that’s just what he did. His son Fr Mick Lowcock, who is Townsville diocese’s administrator, celebrated Mass, and Colin’s other three children – Janice Weaver, Colleen Lowcock and Mercy Sister Mary Lowcock – were there, along with Janice’s four children and grandchild. ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
