Both of us were born in Ipswich, Queensland in the middle of the 2nd World War. We grew up there. We went to the same school and the same church although, because Annette was 4 months older we were not in the same classes.

Annette's art expertise was evident early in life. She won many Ipswich Juvenile Eisteddfod prizes and travelled to Brisbane every week for extra tuition. After High School she entered the typing pool at the State Government Insurance Office where she honed her typing and shorthand skills. She was then successful in her application for work closer to home and joined the administration staff at the Ipswich Hospital.

Graham went staight to work as an apprentice fitter at the Ipswich Railway Workshops after finishing primary school. He enjoyed his sport. Rugby League in the winter. Cricket and swimming during summer. Believing he was called to the ministry he needed to do adult matriculation and a couple of years after completing his apprenticeship was accepted as a candidate for the Methodist ministry.

We fell in love and, after Graham completed 2 years at Theological College, were married in December, 1965. Graham was then a probationary minister and we went to Biloela in Central Queensland. Whilst there Graham was ordained and his ministry subsequently took us to Tully, Atherton, Greenvale Nickel Mine (where Graham's trade came into its own as he worked as a Worker Pastor), Mount Isa and Aitkenvale (Townsville) in North Queensland. Northern New South Wales then became their home as Graham was appointed the Superintendent of the Lismore Mission. This appointment lasted for almost 10 years and was followed by over 5 years in Sydney as the Presbytery Pastor for the Kur-ring-ai Presbytery of the Uniting Church. (In 1977, whilst we were in Atherton, the Methodist Church became part of the newly formed Uniting Church in Australia.)

Ministry, for Graham, has always been primarily about people. For him the church is the mechanism through which his ministry could be performed. Consequently social concern has always been at the forefront of his ministry. In Atherton he was the chairperson of the committee charged with establishing the Carinya Home for the Aged. In Greenvale he was Chairperson of the school P&C and also became an honorary ambulance officer at the mine and continued this work in Mount Isa and in Townsville. In Mount Isa he was also the Director of the Blue Nursing Service (now part of BlueCare). In Townsville he was the Chairperson of the local Lifeline Centre and a member of the ethics committe of the Glenhaven Private Hospital. Ministry in New South Wales saw him taking on Ambulance Chaplaincy, Westpac Helicopter Rescue Service Chaplaincy, and Rural Fire Service Chaplaincy, Chairperson of the Caroona Board (which ran several aged care facilities in Northern NSW) as well as establishing a Crossroads branch for disabled people in Lismore. Whilst in Sydney he was a member of a Synod committee to promote dialog between both sides in the gender debate that was dominating church life at the time. He was also a member of APEX in Tully and Rotary in Atherton, Mount Isa, Townsville and Lismore.

Graham has always been interested in technology. He was probably the first parish minister in Queensland to use a computer extensively in most aspects of parish ministry. He wrote and maintained the first computer program (in DOS) for Lifeline Australia and since retirement has used his skills in website development.

By the time of his retirement in December, 2006 Graham had had extensive experience in all aspects of church relations, community affairs, conflict resolution, mentoring and chaplaincy. He had been able to assist people from all walks of life and from differing ethnic and religious groups. He believes that, deep down, all people have a need to love and be loved. Relationships, therefore, are our most important assets and they need continual nurturing.

Since retirement Graham has served in the Aitkenvale, Innisfail, Palmerston (NT), Cairns Emmanuel, North Cairns and North Mackay congregations as a supply minister and also as a Blue Care chaplain. He has also enjoyed doing some P&O Cruise Chaplaincy positions and was the coordinator for all chaplains in Australia and New Zealand for a number of years.

On 14th October, 2018 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Graham's ordination.

During their time in Queensland Annette's time was mainly taken up by being a mother to their two children. She did, however, find time to do a lot of voluntary work for the church and the community. In Atherton she took the opportunity to return to her pre-marriage career in hospital administration. The move to Greenvale gave the opportunity to do some clerical work at the mine. Mount Isa saw a change in work opportunity when her love of sewing led her to become a highly successful sales consultant with the Janome Sewing Machine Company and this continued during her time in Townsville.

Janome did not have sales consultants in New South Wales so this meant that the move to Lismore left Annette's career open to other possibilities. It was here that she discovered the Modere legacy company and she was entirely captivated by the concept of completely safe products that work, coupled with a compensation plan that gave generous bonuses to those who were willing to work. So began an association with what is now Modere which continues to this day. Graham says that Modere is the most ethical company he has ever dealt with. Annette also likes the friendly personal service she gets from a very proficient staff who always have the welfare of both the Social Marketer and Customer at heart together with the support of the whole Modere family.

2021 was a significant year for us in that we both turned 80. We decided to try to celebrate with family and friends but, with Covid rearing its ugly head, everything was up in the air right up until the last moment. We were able to go ahead but the border with NSW was shut a few days before which meant that a couple of our friends were not able to be with us. If you would like to reminise or commiserate on not being able to attend you can look here.

Our next significant event will be our 60th wedding anniversary on 4th December, 2025. Who knows what we get up to then!

We still believe that "the best is yet to be"..