Today I captured the story & images of the wonderful Elaine Abraham.
She had only written out a short synopsis of her life, believing she didn't have much of a story to tell. But with a bit of coaxing, she remembered many memories of her life.
Born at home in Earlwood Sydney April 1935
Elaine's father was Irish & came to Australia when he was 18, he went on to become a Police officer, & her mother was a housekeeper
She had one older brother, who is now 93 & living at Warners Bay
They moved to Bellbird Police Station house when Elaine was 4 years of age & attended Bellbird school. It was a 2-bedroom house, so her brother slept out on the enclosed verandah during summer & had to sleep back in with Elaine when it was winter.
Elaine recalls it had a cell in the back yard, and she kept her bike in there. Her father would have to drag the bike out to put the arrested person in there. It also had an Air raid shelter.
Elaine's Mum used to make the camouflage nets to help cover machinery, supplies etc which were shipped off to help in the war efforts.
The family moved to Wallsend Police station house when she was 9 years old.
There she went to Platsburg school where she passed her intermediate certificate, then left school to work at Winn's department store in Newcastle. One of her favourite childhood hobbies was playing Tennis.
Elaine went to the same school as her husband Kevin, who she later married at Hamilton Wesley church at age 20 in 1955
Together they built a house in Kotara South & had 3 sons Mark Peter a Jon. Elaine mentioned she really struggled to feed the kids naturally, I asked about formula back then, but she said they were given either cow's milk, or condensed Milk as a feed alternative.
She returned to work at David jones once the boys were old enough for school.
Her Husband Kevin worked for BHP.
They moved to Mount Hutton in 1974, then Fletcher in 1988.
Kevin suffered a heart attack in his forties, & had to change careers, so they managed hotels in Sydney and returned back home on their days off. Elaine said she saw some interesting things in her time at the hotel. Prominent figures like doctors, hiring the rooms for an hour in their lunch break, working girls frequenting the building, women hiring in younger men, & many rooms leaving behind left over unused condoms. Elaine said she ended up keeping them as she was often requested from guests to have some provided. During their time they also had one client overdose and pass away. She said they often had musicians like the Screaming Jets stay there.
She also recalled having two young men from Arabia staying there while they were learning to fly at Bankstown airport.
In 2003 Elaine was diagnosed with bowel cancer, she had to undergo chemotherapy which caused her to have seizures & had to remove her entire large bowel. Thankfully it has not returned.
Sadly in 2009 Kevin passed away from heart issues.
Her beloved son Jon passed away in 2024 from lung cancer the day before his 60th birthday.
Elaine has, 10 Grandchildren, & 23 Great grandchildren
She is now living a wonderful life at a lifestyle village in West Wallsend.
Elaine loves to travel & has been on over 20 cruises, & travelled to Canada, Alaska, Europe, Greek Islands, Dubai, & Singapore
She still enjoys crocheting, gardening, & attends regular exercise groups.
