Born in Yarrawonga on October 29, 1936, Veronica McGarry had a difficult start to life.
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She was just two hours old when her mother, Veronica, passed away from birth complications.
This left the newborn and her older sister, Maureen, 15 months, in the care of their father, Charles Henry McGarry.
Charles was a builder and spent his life travelling from job to job, which offered little time to look after two little baby girls.
He was soon forced to make a difficult decision.
Charles took Veronica to Broadmeadows Babies Home, where she was soon fostered to a family with the surname Reid until the age of six.
The little girl was then introduced to a strange man, who she was told was her father. She was told she must go with him to Yarrawonga by train to be enrolled at Sacred Heart convent as a full-time student boarder, together with her sister, Maureen, who had been fostered by the Dunstans, a local family.
Veronica remembers she cried all night long when left by her father at the convent where she met Maureen and two nuns dressed in black habits and white veils.
The whole experience for the six-year-old was frightening, and it took her quite some time to settle in.
However, she did settle, and she was able to gradually show that she was a bright, capable student.
Her confidence grew to the point where she boldly told the teachers that she could sing and went on to perform magnificently at the Yarrawonga Town Hall on many occasions.
Charles, an Irishman, had quite a love of music and was also insistent that his two girls should learn a musical instrument.
And so Veronica took up the violin, while Maureen chose the piano.
Working six days a week, Charles made sure to visit the girls each Sunday.
He would take them out for lunch; however, Maureen did not become close to her father and after some time refused to join her sister and father on their outings.
Charles always purchased a new dress each year for the girls to wear to the local show.
The sisters spent their school years from primary through secondary to Year 11 at the convent school.
Veronica made some good friends, particularly in the Tomlinson girls, whose family would always invite her to stay at their farm for the school holidays.
She also became great friends with Aileen Brooks.
Veronica got to know Aileen’s brother Kevin, whom she asked to partner her in the school debutante ball.
Unfortunately, much to Veronica’s disappointment, as she rather fancied the good-looking young man, Kevin had already agreed to partner somebody else.
Nonetheless, she joined 18 excited young girls with their handsome young dance partners (all sons of local farmers) for a wonderful night.
Kevin had also attended the convent school before going to Assumption College at Kilmore for several years before leaving to work with his father on the farm.
About 12 months later, Veronica and Kevin were dating seriously.
Veronica studied hard and achieved her leaving certificate at the end of Year 11.
Early the following year, she was accepted into the Catholic Teachers College at Ascot Vale to study for her teaching certificate.
She went on to gain high distinctions.
Later, Veronica was appointed to her first teaching position at Sacred Heart Primary in Yarrawonga where she taught 81 children across two classrooms.
From the children she taught, to working alongside her fellow teachers and being back in her home town, Veronica loved every aspect of her work.
Veronica and Kevin had become engaged and were married in 1961. But during the 1960s, women in the Australian public service were forced to resign from paid employment when they married.
This became the same for most of Australia’s married women, until the rule was abolished in 1966 by the public service.
Forced to step away from her teaching career at 25, Veronica turned her focus to her marriage to Kevin and the expectations of being the wife of a farmer.
More to come in next week’s On the Grapevine.
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