Lara Leahy
On the last day of January, Thelma Riordan turns 100.
Thelma lives in Lismore now but she used to live in Casino with her husband Frank.
Family has been the main focus of Thelma’s life. She married Frank at 21 and they had five children.
Things have changed since Thelma was a kid.
“When I was younger, things, they were just different,” she said.
“If the kids of today could see what I used to do when I was young, I think they’d laugh. It’s a different world all together.”
As a young adult, Thelma met Frank through a cousins ex partner when they were walking down the street in Sydney. Thelma and her party were off to a dance. The fellows they met tempted them in another direction – to Luna Park.
That night there was a spark that lasted the distance.
Thelma was engaged to Frank, before he was stationed in Papua New Guinea in the war. There were close encounters, but he arrived home safely to marry Thelma in 1946.
At that time, Thelma worked at the only job she was employed at as a seamstress making overalls for the Army.
After marrying, they moved to Casino, where Frank was from. He was a carpenter and he built their first house. Thelma was not a complete stranger to the area, she was born in Repton (south of Coffs Harbour) and had spent time in Woodenbong as a child.
The couple had their first child, John, soon after they arrived in the area, followed by Narelle, Jeffrey, Kelvin and Peter.
They built two houses in Casino, lived on two farms, had four houses by the beach and lived in a few areas of Lismore in their time together in the Northern Rivers. That included buying Harry Nielson’s house ‘The Castle’ which had the first swimming pool in Lismore.
Playing tennis was something Thelma loved when she was younger and she was quite good at, she said. She used to play with Ces Penny, a Lismore businessman and tennis champion. However, family commitments did not enable her to continue in the sport.
Later in life, Thelma took up fishing and enjoyed leisure time with Frank and sometimes with her sister.
Frank died in 2015, and although it was hard, life continued for Thelma.
“Life has just been special,” Thelma said.
She is pragmatic about life and accepts its twists and turns.
Thelma’s family has planned a special celebration for her 100th birthday on January 31.
Thelma’s children have not moved too far from her Lismore home, with houses in Tregeagle and Girards Hill. One lives in Avoca on the Central Coast.
Thelma has five children, six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
Congratulations Thelma.
First published on Lismore App