Helen Foster Celebrates Remarkable 100th Birthday in Mackay
A spritely Queensland centenarian and great grandmother of 38 who hiked through Tasmania’s wilderness aged 96 has shared her secrets to a life well-lived. PHOTOS.
Mackay
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On this day 100 years ago, 20 days ahead of the first Winter Olympics being held, a golden sovereign coin was pressed into the hand of a newborn baby girl in Hobart, Tasmania.
It was thought that if a newborn was given a golden sovereign, that they would be blessed with health and wealth throughout their life.
One hundred years later, Helen Foster stands as a testament to the efficacy of this tradition and living proof of what a healthy life looks like.
Born Helen Mitchell to James Aloysius and Alice Mitchell, Helen was born during the period between World War 1 and World War II and enjoyed a quiet upbringing in Tasmania.
She attended St Mary’s Girls College in Hobart and became a senior prefect due to her “exceptional social skills and popularity”.
Attending the boys school next door and excelling academically was the boy who would become her husband, Denis Foster.
“I was the social one, he was the academic,” Mrs Foster said.
They were married on March 22, 1947 at St Mary’s Cathedral in Hobart with Archbishop Tweedy officiating.
“There are four words I can attribute my successes to,” said Helen with a twinkle in her eye and a grin on her face.
“Family, friends, faith and Foster.”
Helen started on the first cornerstone of her long life later that year in her new home of Melbourne, Victoria, with the birth of her first child, Mary Josephine Foster.
Denis built a house for them in Glen Waverley and together they had three children in Melbourne, but something was missing.
“I really didn’t like Melbourne,” she said.
“It was me, three kids, no friends, away from family.
“I felt very isolated.”
Helen was overjoyed when Denis was offered the position of senior chemist at the Mackay Sugar Research Institute and the two stepped off a plane in Mackay in December 1951.
“I followed grandpa's advice,” she said.
“First thing you do in a new town is join a golf club.”
Helen’s social side shone in Mackay, where she grew an active social circle through her husband’s connections at the Mackay Sugar Research Institute and the Mackay Golf Club, while also giving birth to an additional five children.
Won over by the charms of Queensland and the warmth of the tropics, Helen put down her roots in Mackay and never looked back.
During her life she worked as a typist for both the ABC and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, but her primary focus was on raising her children.
Her first Mackay-born son, David Fredrick Foster, said, “Mum put her elder children to good use helping with child rearing and household duties and when necessary chasing down the younger kids.”
In her spare time, Helen loved to play golf, being introduced to it from a young age and winning her first competition at the age of 18.
Denis, being a sailor like many lads from Hobart were at the time, would often take her sailing.
“I don’t go sailing anymore,” Helen said.
“I don’t miss sailing, but I do miss the captain.”
Denis died in 2006 at the Mater Hospital in Mackay, a year shy of their 60th wedding anniversary.
“Every era of my life has been special in their own way and they’ve come and gone in their own time,” Helen said.
“This is not about celebrating 100 years of life,” David said.
“It's about celebrating the life Mum put into these 100.
“It amazes me what a busy schedule she maintains.
“During our calls there can be up to a half dozen people sitting around the dining table.
“She continues to inspire with her ability to stay up past my regular bedtime. I struggle to keep my regular chair at the 5 o’clock happy hour.”
Helen has remained active in the later years of her life, exercising five days a week for the past 30 years and even managing to hike to Dove Lake on Cradle Mountain in Tasmania at the age of 96 with minimal assistance.
She has also dedicated herself to compiling and preserving her family’s history.
Helen has lived through world wars, the Cold War, the space race and the advent of the information age.
Helen is the proud mother of eight children, a happy grandmother to 25 grandchildren and now the great-grandmother to 38 (and counting) great-grandchildren.
To honour her 100th birthday she has received letters from King Charles the third, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Dawson MP Anthony Wilcox and the Governor-General of Australia.
On behalf of the Mackay Daily Mercury, happy birthday Helen Foster.
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