Eileen Beissel started life on a property 'Wilga Park' in the Gunbar District and started school there.

The school was at Wilga Park and the teacher actually lived with the family.

She has fond memories of living in the Gunbar District, the community gatherings especially at Christmas time.

Life in Hillston was equally as carefree.

Her mother was a strong Catholic, they lived across the road from the Catholic school and she attended St Joseph's, the local Catholic school.

She enjoyed playing with the girls who boarded at the convent, and remembered the sisters scolding her for not wearing her stockings to school one day.

Eileen was made to wrap brown paper on her legs for the rest of the day.

Her father was absent from her life from the age of five when he enlisted in World War II.

He left behind his wife and eight children and ended up being a prisoner of war in Changi.

They would receive postcards from him, all beginning with him stating that he was being treated ‘well’, his physical condition when arriving home telling another tale.

Eileen’s brother joined the Air Force, and was in Borneo at the time their father was released.

He went to see his father in hospital and had to be shown by the nurse which bed he was in, he was unrecognisable, and many pounds lighter.

She vividly remembers VP Day when WWII officially ended.

There was dancing and singing in the street.

They all sat in the back of a truck, driving around celebrating the end of the war.

It was a party atmosphere and is one of her happiest memories. Eileen was a tomboy, revelling in undertaking the same pursuits as her brothers.

There was not a thing that they did that she wouldn’t give it a go too. Eileen left school the day after her 15th birthday.

She had taken the day off school as it was her birthday, and the nuns reprimanded her.

Luckily for her, she had approached a store front on Friday, and they offered her a job straight away.

Her mother told her that she could not leave school without a job, so she adeptly and assertively decided her own fate.

Her talent for maths then continued to pave her career, as she spent her working life as a bookkeeper.

She worked at Baxter’s for many years (a department store located where Betta Electrical is located now). Once Baxter’s closed, she relocated to Crighton’s Engineering until the early 2000s.

“I was always lucky, I was never without a job,” she recalled.

Eileen went to a function with a friend, and there was a band playing.

One particular man stood out to Eileen, a young man by the name of Henry, and she mentioned this to her friend.

Although she did not get a chance to meet him, her friend had a photo of him, and gave it to Eileen.

The photo lived in the top drawer of her chest of drawers for a long time.

One day, a group of young men walked into Baxter’s with equipment.

They were there to perform repair work.

A quirky twist of fate saw the same face that was in her top drawer on a photograph, walk in amongst them.

“I was dusting around the shop, and was dusting a light fitting, and I got an electric shock, and got thrown against the wall,” Eileen recalled.

“Ever the chivalrous man, Henry came to my rescue, and walked me home to make sure I got home safely.

“From then on, we were inseparable.”

Henry built his love a house, the house in which she still resides.

The family lovingly call it the house that Henry built.

Wed in 1955, Eileen gave birth to Ian in 1956, the year of Hay's big flood.

They lived in a flat in Leonard St, right on the river bank and she recalls that it was a year where it never stopped raining.

The levee bank was in her backyard and as the men patrolled the banks, they would often slip on the bank and grab onto Ian's nappies hanging on the line.

Her once clean nappies all had to be re washed. Henry, would have to work a full day, come home for lunch and pump water out of the yard and then patrol the bank during shifts in the night.

There was little time for sleep.

Julie came next, and then the baby of the family, Carol.

As the children grew up Henry and Eileen became involved in their activities.

They were active in Hay Amateur Swimming Club as their children were all keen swimmers.

They travelled widely attending carnivals.

Mostly in the Riverina, but also at state level.

Eileen remembers picking Ian up from school at lunchtimes to train him in the back stroke event at Alma Beach on the river.

He had made it to the next level and she was dedicated to her training regime.

When the pool opened in 1967, she handed the training over to the experts - Ted Kulhavey and Gwen Blondinau.

An avid knitter and sewer, she would make all of her children’s clothes, proficiently and quickly.

Carol and Julie would often source out the latest fashions, tossing them at their mother, and asking for it to be made right away.

Eileen and Henry always enjoyed a happy social life, and they both played bowls.

Eileen was treasurer of Hay Services Bowls Club for a time.

The pair also played tennis and darts.

Henry was an exceptional cricketer, representing Riverina District; a left arm off spinner.

Their son Ian went on to have a successful career at University of New England in Armidale.

Julie is the branch manager at Newcastle Permanent in Tamworth. Carol was Principal of Hay Public School for a time, and now is Mayor of Hay.

After the children moved out and away, Henry and Eileen enjoyed travelling throughout New South Wales, exploring.

One of her most favourite trips was a cruise down the Murray, her eyes lit up as she recalled the trip.

In the twilight years, when they discovered Henry had cancer, Eileen faithfully and stoically cared for him, until he passed away in 2006.

She was married to the love of her life, Henry, for 51 years.

Although Eileen says he may not have known about the photo she kept of him in her drawer, she knows that he knew how very much he meant to her.

The couple had six grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren, whom Eileen adores.

Eileen has enjoyed good health throughout her life, a recent fall in April and the resulting broken leg slowing her down just a touch.

Living a relaxed, con tent and laid-back life these days, she treasures the almost daily visits she gets from locals, and feels very blessed to have daughter Carol in town.

She has audio books on her iPad, puzzles, and facetimes her grand children every week or so.

The music of Slim Dusty, Vera Lynn and Mitch Miller are often heard through the rooms of the house.

Eileen is thankful for all of the help she receives, and enjoys getting out and about for drives, and travels.

When she travels away to see her other children, she is usually gone for months, and immensely enjoys this.

You have touched the lives of all who know you, Eileen, the back bone of a family, and a lovely woman.

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