ALICE Gladys May Love (née Vicary) was born in Mount Morgan on April 28, 1921, one of nine children.
She passed away at the age of 103 years, and ironically would have been 104 exactly 103 days later.
Alice left school at 15 years of age to work in a boarding house in Mackay doing housekeeping.
She moved to Beaudesert when she was 19 years old and found work as a machinist at NARM, where she stayed for 20 years.
She soon met William Love, who worked at Beaudesert sawmill and romance blossomed.
Alice and William married on July 11, 1942 in a double ceremony with Isabell (William’s sister) and Jack Dredge.
The four of them remained close friends all their lives.
Family life
Alice and William had two children, both born in Beaudesert, Lynette in 1943 followed by Ross (dec) in 1947.
This was followed by six grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren.
The grandchildren loved spending school holidays in Beaudesert with nanna and grandad, who lived a life of routine.
Every day of the week was designated a job: Monday clean the house, Tuesday washing, Wednesday ironing (including the sheets and undies), Thursday shopping.
They never owned a car, so they walked everywhere, living a simple, frugal life.
Every morning they had breakfast together at 5am, which Alice set up the night before, after cleaning up the dinner dishes.
William left early for work and Alice would do her chores and also find time to watch her favourite shows – Days of Our Lives and The Young and The Restless.
In 1987 William passed away; this left a large hole in Alice’s life as they had never spent a day apart.
To fill her days Alice joined every group she could, including senior citizens’, widows and the garden club.
She went on many day trips, bus trips, and a trip to New Zealand which she loved.
She walked for exercise most mornings and remained active most of her life.
Even after William’s passing she continued with her routines, including her twice weekly cooked roast.
Before suffering from glaucoma Alice loved to read, with Mills and Boon her favourite novels.
She also enjoyed knitting, crocheting, and needle work.
All of her grandchildren have crocheted and knitted coat hanger covers in their wardrobes that Alice created and many other beautiful hand crafted items.
Alice often helped with her great-grandchildren and Vicky’s doberman would sit on the couch beside her lovingly.
Alice rarely drank alcohol and when she did it was a shandy, often having a little flush as a consequence.
She told Vicky at one of her recent visits that she would never make it to 103 as she liked alcohol too much.
Alice loved food and never left anything on her plate, no matter how much she was served.
She loved ginger, Turkish delight and especially mangoes.
When Alice first went into Whiddon her family took her treats. Her favourites were chocolate covered ginger, Turkish delight and spicy fruit roll biscuits.
When she become unable to walk her preferred treats were mangoes and mango Weiss bar ice blocks.
“The last meal I fed to Nanna just before Christmas was two of the largest bowls of mango,” said Vicky.
“She totally disregarded the meal and launched into the bowl of mango. She asked for a second bowl and had the third for dinner.”
Alice’s calm, loving presence in her family and at Whiddon will be missed.
