One Day at a Time – Nancy’s Century of Love and Family

If you had 100 years, would you take it one day at a time? That’s exactly what Nancy, our newest 100 Club inductee, says has been her secret to a long and contented life. 

Born in Babinda Queensland, Nancy grew up on a farm with her family, where her days began early with the simple rhythm of milking the cows before school. Life was humble but full – their home sat three miles from the local school, and Nancy remembers those years as steady, grounded and shaped by family. 

Nancy met Henry, the love of her life, when they were both very young. Henry served in the army during the war, and their daughter Kaye arrived just as the war came to an end. Their wedding day remains one of Nancy’s most treasured memories, a moment she wishes everyone could experience. “I was very happy to marry the love of my life,” she says. 

A moment in history that still feels vivid to her is the end of the Second World War. “It was phenomenal when it finished,” she recalls, a wave of relief and hope that she remembers as if it were yesterday. 

Throughout her century, Nancy has built a life she is deeply proud of. Her greatest achievement, she says, is her family. Her 3 children (Kaye, Brian and Lee), 7 grandchildren and 13 great‑grandchildren and 5 great great grandchildren, each one a piece of the legacy she has nurtured with love and patience. 

Nancy says she has no regrets, having done everything she ever wanted to try. She has lived fully, simply and with a sense of gratitude for the life she’s had. 

To Nancy, Respect means “home, where I’m comfortable and happy.” She speaks warmly of the staff who support her whenever she needs it, and of the sense of belonging she feels each day.

Her advice for others is beautifully simple: “Be kind to people.”

A century lived one day at a time — and what a remarkable century it has been.