Theresa Finds New Home in Aged Care at 102

Not many seniors move into aged care after they turn 100, but Theresa Harvey has bucked that trend.

The average age of women moving into care is 85 years, but Theresa was 102 when she recently made the move to Carinity Shalom in Rockhampton.

She was born in Rockhampton in 1922, one of nine children for her parents James and Eleanor Hopkins (nee Nelson).

“My earliest memory of childhood is riding in the sulky with Mum, taking Dad to and from work, when he was a slaughterman and butcher,” Theresa said.

Times were hard for the family. Theresa’s eldest brother died at 14 months from Spanish Flu and her father lost employment during the Depression.

“Mum could not afford to give us a cut lunch to take to school, so we had to run home at lunchtime and then back to school again,” Theresa said.

“It was a mile to the school. We had to climb the Rundle Street hill, and in summertime it was very exhausting.

“Christmas and birthdays were a great worry to Mum as she had a hard job to make ends meet.

“We would see the gifts some of the other children in our street received, such as celluloid dolls, cricket bats, tennis racquets, small footballs and beautifully coloured glass marbles. I often wondered how Santa came to miss our house each year, as our presents were different.”

Theresa left her school, St Joseph’s at Wandal, at the age of 13 and began working to help the family finances.

“I’ve worked hard all my life firstly as a nanny/home help, then a salesperson in a department store. As a domestic at our local hospital, I had to scrub floors on my hands and knees with soap and a brush, as well as carrying huge food trays up several flights of stairs,” she said.

Theresa married her husband of 62 years, Arthur Harvey, in 1942. They were separated for four years while he served in the Australian Army abroad during World War II.

 
Pictured: Arthur and Theresa Harvey on their 60th wedding anniversary in 2002

“My husband and I married when he managed to get 48 hours leave from the army prior to his departure north to New Guinea and the Pacific War front,” Theresa said.

“It was a simple wedding: I had saved enough coupons to purchase lace curtaining fabric which my neighbour sewed into a wedding dress. A cousin loaned me a veil and a relative baked a cake using my saved fruit coupons.

“Our honeymoon was two nights in Yeppoon and then we waited on the railway platform at Rockhampton Railway Station for the next troop train to arrive to return him to his army unit.

“I did not speak to Arthur, or see him again, until after his discharge in January 1946, although we wrote to each other daily. I can only marvel now when I look at how easy it is to communicate in 2025.”

During the war, Theresa worked at a canteen for US soldiers stationed in Rockhampton. She noted: “I peeled enormous quantities of potatoes to cook into ‘fries’, a staple of the Americans”.

Arthur and Theresa settled in Rockhampton and raised four children. Their extended family includes 10 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren, with a great-great grandchild due this month.

“I’ve had a good life with few regrets although my husband died 20 years ago, and I still very much miss his presence in my life,” Theresa explains.

“I’m the only one my siblings to live a long life with several dying in their 40s or 60s, although my youngest brother and sister lived into their 90s.

“I will be 103 on 28 April and am looking forward to celebrating that milestone here at Carinity Shalom with family and friends.”

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