A Century Of Life And Love For Audrey Moss

Living for a century is no small accomplishment, and local resident Audrey Moss and her family are getting ready to commemorate that fact.

March 7, 1924, saw the birth of Audrey May Burnett in Warwick at Welford House, during the Jazz Age and the interval between two World Wars.

According to her son, John L Moss, his mother was the second of six children raised in rural Leyburn, Queensland.

Mr Moss said that Audrey relocated to Brisbane at the age of 18, during the war years, to begin working as a nurse at the Royal Women’s Hospital. 

“Her eldest sister, Mona, had preceded her to Brisbane and introduced Audrey to the man she was to marry,” Mr Moss said.

Marriage to Elvyn Moss (known to his friends as Lem or Len) was swift because, according to the couple at the time, “when you know, you know.”

The pair were married in 1945 at St. Brigid’s  Roman Catholic Church in Red Hill, with a honeymoon spent at Tamborine Mountain.

Audrey had six children in 10 years (Patrick, John, Teresa, Suzanne, Daniel and Maria) who mostly spent their formative years living in the north-west Brisbane locality of Grovely.

“Mum started working as a cleaner in 1960 at Brisbane City Hall and retired in December 1979,” Mr Moss said.

After her retirement and after several overseas trips, such as to America, Tijuana and Singapore, Audrey moved to Deception Bay at the start of the twenty-first century.

“Moreton Bay has been her home for 24 years and she has loved it from the foreshore,” Mr Moss said.

While Audrey’s early passions included needlework and embroidery, she has more recently enjoyed crocheting, a bit of gardening and time spent with grandchildren.

When told of her age on her latest birthday and in anticipation of the next, Audrey Moss said, “Gee, am I really that old!”

To celebrate her upcoming centenary, there will be a letter from the King, Prime Minister, Premier of Queensland, local MP, and City of Moreton Bay Mayor, alongside a small family gathering at Seabrook - McKenzie Aged Care (attendance limited to COVID-related and other restrictions).