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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-06-23 Daily Xml
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SEXTON, MRS N.

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (16:22): This coming Sunday, a Gawler East resident, Mrs Nora Sexton, is looking forward to celebrating her birthday at a low key party with family and friends. There is nothing out of the ordinary in that except that Nora will be celebrating her 100th birthday. Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with Mrs Sexton and her daughter Zeta Ward. Today I am proud to provide this house with a brief insight into the life of this wonderful woman.

Nora Sexton was born on this day in 1910 at the Jamestown hospital, 12 kilometres south-east of the Mid North town of Caltowie. The third child of six to Katherine and Peter McCarthy, Nora spent her early childhood going to school at the St Killian Convent School and helping with chores around the home. At school she excelled at sports and the piano. Later in life she was well known in the town of Crystal Brook as being a well accomplished tennis player, and she also played the organ in her local church. Nora said that for a while she was actually head organist. She learned to play the piano the hard way, and she still recalls the 'cracked knuckles' at the hands of the sisters.

Nora's mum and dad had a road making business in the early days, but the Depression and difficult times in the country meant work was hard to find, and dad went on to do labouring work and later qualified as a fitter and turner. After leaving school at about aged 14 years, Nora was apprenticed to a local tailor, where she helped with a great deal of sewing and general sales in the shop, a skill she was later to put to great use in life with her family.

Nora's mum Katherine died when Nora was only 17 years of age, so she had to leave her job and help look after the family. Nora still recalls the first family washing she had to do by herself. She says that, 'The copper was huge, and all the clothes had to be scrubbed by hand.' At the time, she was also head cook and bottle washer. Nora helped care for her older two brothers Jim and Charlie and younger sister and brother Katherine and Peter. Peter is the only remaining sibling. Aged 89 years, he now lives at Enfield.

Nora married a local lad, Michael Sexton, in 1932 in Georgetown, a boy she had known since school days but who, according to her, she had not 'taken any notice of really'. Asked if she could recall the day that Michael proposed, Nora went a bit quiet and said that 'You don't really talk about those things,' reflecting the values of a time when some things still stayed private.

She said, with a big grin, that she has many fond memories of her life with Michael. Michael was a farming lad, who had to work the family farm from an early age because his father died when he was only 12. The married couple moved to Crystal Brook to live, a place she still loves and misses to this day. Despite her strong connection to the town, she said that you have to move on.

Nora gave birth to her first child, Zeta, in 1933, followed by her son, John, in 1942. Zeta lives with her husband, Dennis Ward, in Gawler, while John lives in Para Hills. Nora spent most of her adult life caring for her husband and children, as she puts it, 'as you did in those days'.

While having fond memories of her life to date, Nora is reluctant to reminisce, as she finds it hard to recall some of the details, and prefers to talk about the good life she currently lives. Nevertheless, she is happy to talk about the dances she and her husband, Michael, attended, even after the children were born. According to her, 'They were great fun, and we looked forward to attending them on a regular basis.'

In 1989, Nora and Michael moved to Gawler to be closer to family, but within a year her husband passed away. Nora kept busy through her volunteering work at Vinnies, a role she fulfilled for 17 years, until an illness forced her to take a less active role in the community.

Nora now calls Southern Cross Homes in Gawler her new home, and it is a place she quite enjoys. Come Sunday, she will celebrate her birthday with her two children, seven grandchildren and nine great grandchildren and other family and friends. I wish her a very happy 100th birthday, and I thank her for the opportunity and privilege to be with her last week.

Dr McFETRIDGE: Madam Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed:

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