Presently Kuranda, Queensland, Australia is the place
we call home. It is a tropical paradise and we live
on a 5 acre block above the Barron River. However,
we have recently purchased a cattle property
(Platypus Springs) near a place called Chilverton on
the Atherton Tablelands and we are spending a fair
bit of time there and may even move there in the
future. It is much more remote and has many natural
springs, ponds and patches of rainforest intermingled
with lush pastures.
FAMILY:
I met my husband in Cairns in the early 1970's when
we discovered we were next door neighbours attending
many of the same functions. Ray is a wonderful
Australian who has similar interests to myself. He
has had his own Electrical, Refrigeration and Air
Conditioning business and has also managed the
refrigeration and airconditioning of Queensland
Health Hospitals from Innisfail to the tip of Cape
York. We have one daughter, Kate Wenona, who was born
in 1985. (I know we started late!) She is currently
attending the University of Queensland in Brisbane
with a double major in Geology and Archaeology. She
had started in Entomology/Archaeology but after 2.5
years with no live lecturers she changed her science
component to Geology and loves it. We also have a
delightful 7 month old Border Collie cross.
My father passed away in 1968 from colon cancer but
mother had a wonderful full life until 1999. She
visited us on numerous occasions in Australia and
continually lived in hope that one day we would
return to Tucson for good. The last few years of her
life she lived with my sister, Kathy, at Mom's home
on Lake Tahoe. Mother suffered from senile dementia
but she could still recognise all family members
until the end and occasionally was able to say
something very profound, appropriate and meaningful.
We miss her wit, love, laughter and companionship
very much and were so blessed that she did not have
Alzheimer's.
Kathy (also a CHS 1961) graduate is married to Dennis
Wilcox, a verterinary surgeon, in Port Angeles,
Washington. She has two stepsons - Barry and Craig.
She and Dennis are both working full time and we are
trying to encourage them to enjoy retirement....so
far no luck.
EDUCATION AND CAREER:
I received a BS in Zoology from the UA in 1963, and
MS in 1965 and a PhD from Tulane University in 1971
with a major in Microbiology and Minors in
Biochemistry and Epidemiology. Between my MS and PhD
I had a Fulbright Hays Fellowship to the Queensland
Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, Queensland
Australia where I studied arboviruses in reptiles and
amphibians on the Cape York Peninsula. This was a
fabulous experience as I collected animals in many
remote and isolated regions of Australia. The
only 'iffy' part were the venemous snakes and they
certainly managed to keep my adrenalin pumped at
times.
When I returned to Australia I stated a career in
medical laboratory science. This spanned a period of
24 years. During the majority of that time I was
head of department and/or manager of the laboratory.
I served as Chairman of the Infection Control
Committee for Calvary hospital for over 12 years and
I am still a NATA assessor. Additionally I have
served on the Australian Standards committee.
In 1996 I decided to try my hand at Environmental
Microbiology and worked as the City Microbiologist
until 2005. This was a delightful change and a
challenge. The best part of the job were the hours
8 - 4 M - F. It was like a permanent holiday after
the various schedules that we maintained in the
Clinical Laboratory (24hrs per day 7 days a week).
In 2005 Ray and I took a 12 week holiday and we both
managed to completely relax and enjoy life. Ray had
decided to retire in December 2004 and was trying to
convince me that I could live without full time
work. When we returned to Cairns I stopped by the
laboratory to see how things were going and was
amazed to see the amount of stress in the workplace
and feel it so intensely. I opened the filing
cabinet, took out the resignation form and filled it
in on the spot. The entire staff were up in arms as
accreditation was due in two weeks. I agreed to take
the laboratory through the assessment process and for
the first time in history managed a perfect
Biological Assessment. It was indeed the very best
possible time to retire.
Now retirement is an unusual state of mind. Last
year after a wonderful holiday in Arizona and Mexico
we returned to Australia and the aftermath of Cyclone
Larry (Category 5). Our property had vegetation
damage so we spent a few weeks cleaning it up and
then headed down to southern Queensland and New South
Wales to visit Ray's cousins, aunts, uncles and old
friends. Ray's older brother had a fatal heart
attack in Sept 2005 and Ray felt it was time to
visit. We had an absolutely tremendous trip -
managed to attend the State Single Action
Championshpis and win our categories - I even managed
to win the fastest woman shooter. On the return trip
we started looking at various rural properties as we
had decided that we would rather enjoy being
graziers. On return we found a property about 130
kilometers from our home that suited all of our
criteria. It had sustained considerable damage from
Cyclone Larry and the owner had recently been killed
in a riding accident. Settlement was not completed
until mid November. Retirment stopped the next day.
We are now fixing fences, branding and drenching
cattle, improving pastures and generally working at
least 3 - 4 days of the week. The beauty of Platypus
Springs is that it is about 3500 feet and much cooler
than Kuranda and our nearest neighbour is about 1
kilometer away.
OPINIONS:
I do worry about what the war in Iraq has done to the
world. The rationale for going in was completely
wrong and the situation is only getting worse. The
media reports in the US are often quite different
than what one reads overseas - but this is not new -
the same thing was true during the Vietnam war.
I hope and pray that we are able to restore Iraq to
some semblance of normalacy but I am not sure that
will be possible.
Although we have travelled many times to the states
in the past we are thinking that we may concentrate
our travels in Australia and New Zealand in the
future.
AVOCATIONS::
Bushwalking, shooting and general outdoor
activities. Ray and I both compete in Single Action
Shooting....ie we assume our aliases, dress up like
the old west characters, pick up our shooting irons
and have a laugh. I have managed to win the Senior
Ladies National Championship here in Australia and
have won the state Championship for the past three
years. We truly enjoy the challenge. Ray is a top
marksman with the rifle often winning or placing in
the long range rifle events as well as his category.
Ray and Kate are the top shooters in the family for
speed and accuracy. I am just lucky that there are
not many ladies my age that shoot - hence I win!
