THOM, MRS A.

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (15:46): Today I bring to the attention of the house the birthday of one of my constituents. I would like to talk about a resident of Gawler Eldercare, Mrs Alma Thom, who is celebrating her birthday today. It is no ordinary event as she will be required to blow out 100 candles.

Born at home in the main street of Jamestown to George and Ruth Noble, Alma spent a great deal of her life in rural farming communities. While mum ran a boarding house, Alma attended Jamestown Primary School, and she then went to Darke Peak Primary School when her family moved to Eyre Peninsula in 1920. The trip from Jamestown to the peninsula took 32 days and was by horse and dray.

One of six children, only Alma and her younger sister Coral, who currently lives in Cleve, remain. Dad drove a truck that took flour from the mills to the railway station. While Alma played some tennis and basketball, a great deal of her time in her early years was spent house cleaning as she left school after completing primary schooling. At age 21 she got a job as an assistant in the local post office shop.

Alma married Frank Thom, who coincidentally was born in Willaston, Gawler, but moved to Darke Peak with his brother to work on his uncle's farm when he was 13 years old. The wedding ceremony took place in Darke Peak Hall, as the town had no dedicated church. They stayed in Darke Peak until about 1954-55 when they came to the local area where Alma ran the Rowland Flat shop and post office for about eight years, later moving to Gozzard Street in Gawler—so it was a round trip for her husband, who started his life in Gawler and ended up back in Gawler.

Frank passed away in 1968, the years of hard work and a work-related accident taking their toll. A widow for almost 30 years, Alma recalls without any rancour the long days of working dawn to dusk and the days of drought. Husband Frank was a real handyman, shearing, building, a jack-of-all-trades. Alma and Frank had five children, with son Brian dying at the age of five. Daughter Maureen lives locally in Willaston.

Alma has fond memories of Jamestown and believes that her family should not have moved to Darke Peak. The death of her husband and son at an early age still weighs heavily on Alma. Despite many challenges, Alma has found time for community. She was a foundation member of the Gawler Women's Probus Club and supported Meals on Wheels as a driver for 25 years. She is slowly outliving all her friends, with Aileen West, another Eldercare resident, who also lived in Darke Peak, passing away a few weeks ago aged 97.

Alma is enjoying her retirement, having moved into Eldercare at Evanston Park about 2½ years ago. With eight great-great-grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren and 12 grandchildren, Alma will certainly have a lot of help to blow out the 100 candles on her cake today. I would like to extend my personal happy birthday congratulations to Alma Tom.