Centenarian mother of 14 reflects on birth of Kambah and Riverina roots

Joan Plunkett is exactly twice as old as the suburb in which she lives.

Raised in the Riverina town of Yerong Creek near Wagga, she was one of the first residents to move to Kambah in 1974 and has seen how a small row of white houses evolved into Australia’s biggest suburb.

The mother of 14 turned 100 last December and remains in good health and spirits.

Region caught up with her and her son John to find out about her thoughts on motherhood, how Kambah has changed, her early life in the Riverina and the secrets to her longevity.

Did you always want to have such a big family?

It just happened. I had my first child when I was 21 and my last when I was in my 40s.

[John]: There was no TV back then.

Is raising 14 children hard work?

Well, what do you think?

How many grandchildren and great grandchildren do you have?

Truckloads.

What did you do when you moved to Canberra?

I joined the Tech and did classes in dressmaking. I learned how to make wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses and did that from home up until my kids all moved out. We lived in Fisher for two years and then moved to Kambah when it first became a suburb in 1974.

What was Kambah like then?

When we moved to Kambah, there was a little row of white houses, then you’d go round to Chirnside Circuit and they had built 10 houses in a block, we bought one of them. That’s all there was, just 20 houses in the whole suburb.

In those days, there were no shops at all in Kambah. There was no Woden to any great extent. A bus would come at 7 am and park where the pre-school is, it would sell newspapers, eggs, bread, butter and all those essentials. The bus would then depart at midday.

Afterwards, we could take a bus into Woden and shop at Woolworths. Gradually, the whole of Kambah filled up with houses.

We lived next to the No.1 oval, which belonged to my children. When school got out, they were all there. All the kids in the neighbourhood would come to our house.

On the weekends, we would all go down to Kambah Pool, on the Murrumbidgee River, we loved it there.

What are the secrets to longevity? Do you have a healthy diet?

I have meat and vegetables and fruits.

[John]: I cook for mum and she eats eye fillet steaks, salmon cutlets and organic vegetable. And a glass of wine at 5 pm every day. She also loves those Trumpet ice creams.

Did you ever smoke?

I smoked for about a month. Then I realised the amount I was paying for cigarettes was the same for a loaf of bread. I thought to myself, ‘we need the bread more than I need the cigarettes’, so I stopped smoking.

But just look at the comparison in price between smokes and bread today.

What was life like growing up in the Riverina?

My parents were general farmers. They grew wheat, sheep and cattle.

I used to milk the cows every morning. I rode my horse and sulky and took my younger brother and sister into Yerong, one of them would go and post the mail. Then we’d cross the railway line, put the horse in the shed and catch the train to go to school. Then in the afternoon we’d do that in reverse, go up to the station and wait for the mail train.

I learned to ride horses when I was very young and would do work in the paddocks for my family.

I married my husband when I was in my early 20s and we went to live in Bowna, near Albury.

We lived on the banks of the Hume weir. We were close to the school, the kids could come home and have lunch.

Any special childhood memories?

John: Her father owned racehorses. When mum was 16 she rode one of his racehorses from Yerong Creek to Albury. It took a day and a half, she was by herself. The next day the horse was put on the train to go to Melbourne. There was a trainload of soldiers who all cheered her on.

Were you surprised when your 100th birthday photo received almost 5000 reactions on Facebook?

That was funny. But most of those people didn’t know me, they just just liked my photo.

Does longevity run in your family?

I was one of eight children when our family was complete. Before I turned 100, the last four alive were all in their 90s. So there’s five of us still alive and over 90.

What do you plan to do for your 101st birthday?

Have a big long sleep.