Cairns grandmother Maureen Stanfield celebrates 100 years

From riding horses to school and marrying a World War II veteran, to droving cattle across the outback, Cairns grandmother Maureen Stanfield has experienced so much in 100 years.

Cairns grandmother Maureen Stanfield celebrated her 100th birthday on June 8, crediting a dose of luck and hard work for helping her live so long. Photo: Supplied.

Cairns centenarian Maureen Stanfield didn’t think she would live to see 100.

After suffering a heart attack in her 60s, she credited a dose of luck and the right attitude for helping her reach the milestone.

“I’ve never smoked and I’ve always worked hard,” Ms Stanfield said.

Now residing in Cairns, the great-grandmother, was born in Brisbane in 1924 and grew up in the Valley suburbs when her mother remarried, after her father’s death.

“I was three when my dad died,” Ms Stanfield said.
“Then mum got married and we moved to the Valley where I went to school. We used to have to walk three miles to school.”

As an adult Ms Stanfield trained as a nurse during World War II.

Cairns grandmother Maureen Stanfield celebrated her 100th birthday on June 8, crediting a dose of luck and hard work for helping her live so long. Photo: Supplied.

“I did two and a half years in training and the doctor asked if I would like to stay on and finish the three year course,” she said.

“Then this soldier came along and wanted to get married so I said all right, I’ll get married but I had to give up nursing.”
At 21, she married Jack Stanfield, a 23-year-old World War II veteran in June, 1945.
“He served in the Middle East and in Papua New Guinea,” she said.
“He wasn’t the same after the war and he had a bad case of wanderlust so we did a lot of droving and travelling.”
The pair worked as drovers throughout outback Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Maureen Stanfield and her husband John 'Jack' Stanfield married in June 1945, before travelling the Australian outback as drovers and welcoming four children together.

“We shifted 1700 head of cattle from Surat (Queensland) to Boggabilla (New South Wales) which was our greatest feat, with two children in tow” she said.

The pair went onto have another two children.
“One died at 48 of breast cancer and my other son died when he was 56,” she said.

Jack died at 76-years-old in 1998.
The pair were married for 53 years.
“It’s been hard at times, but life goes on I suppose,” she said.

Over the past century, Ms Stanfield said she was amazed at all the changes in society and technology.

“Everything was so simple back then,” she said.
“There were no mobile phones. We had party lines (telephone service) where everyone could hear what you said.”
Ms Stanfield celebrated her milestone birthday on June 8, with daughter Catherine, her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, extended family and friends.
“It was a lovely day,” she said.

Originally published as Cairns grandmother Maureen Stanfield celebrates 100 years