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Community & Business

28 April, 2022

Oakey Resident ‘Pat Kelly’ turns 100

Alice Patricia Kelly (Pat) was born January 15, 1922 in Dalby and now resides in Oakey’s CWA House.


She grew up on the family farm, Kelton, at Tipton (east of Cecil Plains). 

Her sister Pam was 18 months younger, so the girls would play together and help with chores in the dairy and around the house.

The Tipton school was established in 1929 on five acres Mr Kelly had donated. 

Pat and Pam were now helping in the dairy before and after school and the teacher couldn’t understand how the Kelly girls were often late for school even though they lived the closest. 

After Pat left school she would help plough and seed the paddocks, and later sew the wheat bags during harvest time. 

There were always fences to help mend and cattle and sheep to round up.

When the Tipton post office was moved to Kelton for Mrs Kelly to operate, Pat and Pam helped with the sorting of mail and operating the manual telephone exchange. 

There was also the social side of growing up in a rural district with tennis matches, picnics on the river with neighbours and the annual Church of England Ball at Cecil Plains.

Pat’s much younger sister, Val had stayed with their cousin in Toowoomba who had introduced her to morse code. 

On her return to Kelton she showed her two sisters what she had learnt, and the girls were impressed and keen to do a course. 

This led to independence and adventure as they had heard wireless telegraphists were urgently needed in the war effort, as male wireless telegraphists were now in short supply.

Pat and Pam enrolled in a telegraphist’s course in Dalby, then applied to join the WAAAF as wireless telegraph operators.

Pat enlisted on June 26, 1942 and trained in Melbourne.

Her first posting was to Parkes, but she applied for a transfer to Townsville where she worked as a wireless operator at Garbutt air base. 

Pat met Brian, a Warrant Officer in the RAAF, during her time in Townsville. 

Pat’s father had encouraged his girls to follow his lead and apply for soldier settlement blocks, as they had served with the WAAAF and were entitled to do so. 

They had a sound knowledge of agricultural practices and a desire to own their own farms.

On May 25, 1948, Pat drew a block of 810 acres at Jondaryan. 

She was the first woman to do so, but did not move onto it until later. 

In the meantime Pat’s father Roy helped her with the basic items to start farming the block. 

Pat and Brian married in Dalby on June 21, 1949 and they lived in the workman’s cottage on the neighbouring block until their house and shed were built.

They concentrated their efforts on sheep and wool production, and thankfully luck was on their side as the sheep produced twins each time and the stock numbers grew quickly.   

Later they went into grain farming and beef cattle.

Pat was a keen golfer and was a foundation member of Oakey Golf Club in the days when the clubhouse was on the Oakey-Kingsthorpe Road.

Pat was proud of her service and became involved in the Jondaryan sub branch of the RSL Women’s League. 

In late 2021 she moved into CWA House in Oakey where she currently resides. 

Brian passed away in January 2006. 

He had 2 children from his first marriage, and Brian and Pat had 4 children together. 

Those children have produced 12 grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren
and 5 great great grandchildren.

- Robyn Gale



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