Happy 100th Birthday Jose
Jose Petrick (née Tizard) was born in England on 14 February 1924.
Jose first trained as a secretary, later became a nurse. In 1950 Jose travelled to Australia on a working holiday. Jose worked in many big
cities such as Adelaide, Hobart, and Sydney. Jose exchanged city life for station life in 1951 when she started working as a governess for
the Chalmers family on the MacDonald Downs Station in the Northern Territory. The station was situated 300 kilometres north-east
of Alice Springs. By doing so became the first ever governess for the Alice Springs School of the Air.
In 1952 Jose married Martyn Petrick from a neighbouring station, Mt Swan. Jose and Martyn relocated from Mt Swan station to Neutral
Junction Station in 1960. Neutral Junction Station near Barrow Creek is where Jose managed the local community health centre. Martyn and
Jose had two children whom she tutored through Alice Springs School of the Air whilst living on the Neutral Junction Station.
After Martyn’s passing in 1974, Jose relocated to Alice Springs where she became a journalist. Some of her most prominent works were booklets that she wrote about Alice Springs’ street names and landmarks named after prominent people. The streets names Jose wrote about were named after pioneers, flora, Aboriginal words, and politicians.
In 2000 Jose was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for documenting and keeping the history of Alice Springs and for her voluntary service at the Old Timers Home in Alice Springs. Jose also carried the Olympic Torch in Alice Springs in June 2000.
During the Alice Springs School of the Air’s 70th birthday celebrations, the school named one of their studio room’s the ‘Jose Petrick Room’ in appreciation of Jose’s long and loyal support to ASSOA.
Josie was a pioneer who in earlier years assisted in laying strong foundations of ordered social life in what was a new and very raw Northern Territory back in the day.
Her pastimes include a love of history, music, photography, and education with Alice Springs School of the Air. Jose learned to play the piano at 80 years of age.
How fortunate for those of you who have known or know Jose. Enjoying her adventures, sharing in her life’s journey, and acutely aware and thankful for her extraordinary contribution of kindness that has touched so many lives.
Happy 100th Birthday Jose Petrick
This is the cover of Josie’s book, ‘Bournemouth, the Bush and Beyond’ published in 2017.
Note, some of the information was obtained from the Wikipedia website
