Community & Business
10 October, 2025
Still making the most of life at 90
Age is just a number for Julie Thomas, who, despite turning ninety recently, manages to live independently at home and still lives a busy and active life.
Mrs Thomas moved to her current property at East Greenmount 25 years ago with her late husband Keith, having previously lived on a dairy farm at Pilton.
Although most people her age have moved into a retirement village, nursing home or with family, Mrs Thomas loves the freedom of living at her own leisure and recently had her driver's licence renewed, providing another layer of independence.
"I like doing things my way," she said.
She is helped by neighbours with more intensive jobs such as mowing, but keeps on top of running the household and keeping a neat and tidy home.
Turning ninety is no mean feat and Mrs Thomas was kept busy on her special day with a constant stream of visitors.
"There were people coming and people going. It was good fun," she said.
Gardening is one of life's great joys for Mrs Thomas and a beautiful sprawling garden at her house keeps her quite busy.
"I don't know if I could live without a garden," she said.
"I like gardening, the activity of it.
"There's always some-thing to see, something to do.
"It's nice to enjoy a lovely sunset with a glass of wine in the evening."
Mrs Thomas is perhaps best known around town for her long involvement in the Clifton CWA branch, spanning around half a century.
Clifton was not her first experience with the CWA however.
Her husband's work before they settled down in Pilton saw the couple living at Hay in southern New South Wales in 1961.
It was there Mrs Thomas had her first experience with the Country Women's Association.
They later moved to the Maranoa region, where she joined the Surat branch of the QCWA.
In such an isolated community, even when compared to Clifton let alone a city, the CWA was an important port-of-call on trips from one's property into Roma for shopping and appointments.
Mrs Thomas said the CWA rooms could be relied upon to drop the children off to be watched, with someone always seeming to be there to look after them.
Not long after moving back to Pilton in 1976, Mrs Thomas joined the Clifton branch where she has remained a member ever since, filling various committee roles over the years.
"I think I've had them all," she laughed.
Although membership numbers have gradually declined over the decades, as women have entered the workforce and the government has taken over roles previously done by the CWA, Clifton's branch has still been able to find new blood.
"It's nice to still have some new members," she said.
A treasured moment for Mrs Thomas was the centenary anniversary celebrations of the Clifton CWA branch held in March this year.
"It's nice to see the Clifton branch still there after 100 years."
Fond memories for Mrs Thomas include taking her mother to international events around the Border Division, which extends from Clifton to the New South Wales border and west to Texas.
Turning 90 isn't slowing down Mrs Thomas when it comes to travelling either.
As a special birthday present, two of her daughters are taking her on a cross-continental trip.
They will be flying from Brisbane to Perth and then taking the Indian Pacific train back to the east coast.
