St Andrews

Many years ago, as a young pastor, I knew that one day I would be involved in planning a new school somewhere. I had learned that the most influential years of a child’s life are the first five to seven years. So, from the beginning, I was focused on schooling, especially during the early years. But once you get into a parish things happen that shape your thinking. It built a growing conviction that Christians have been “blessed to be a blessing” (Genesis 12), and that the church’s mission is to “go to people everywhere and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19).

In this context I often talked about bringing schools and churches together. At Loxton, the parish primary school was at the centre of my role, but I was also working with and living right next door to the Riverview aged care home.

At Tabeel Aged Care in Laidley, part of my role was providing Sunday services for residents. We also almost started a school there but didn’t quite have enough enrolments to go ahead.

By the time I was called to the Gold Coast in 1987, my dream had broadened. With others in the parish, we were exploring how to become more effective as a church, how to expand the Kingdom of God, to bring people to Christ. What might God himself want for us? What might his dream be? Should we perhaps consider childcare? Or maybe an aged care service? Maybe a Christian primary school?

Meanwhile the dream was maturing and expanding for St Andrews. The concept became that a church should be a church for all ages, and so it ought to be catering not just for the preschoolers and the school age families, but also for the people in between and people in their senior years. By doing it together on one campus, we would demonstrate that the church is there, serving the community and carrying out a whole-of-life ministry.

The biggest challenges were knowing how to fund such a big dream and then finding real estate where we could develop it.

We hunted all over the southern Gold Coast for a suitable property. It had to be somewhere that would allow us to merge the two small congregations we had at Currumbin and Miami. When we eventually found the Tallebudgera land, we could see that with God’s help and blessing, it could become an exciting Christian centre, a place where a church could be at the centre, and childcare, school, and aged care could all happen.

Finally, D-Day arrived, Sunday 15 September 1991. That was the day 35 members and friends of the then Gold Coast South Lutheran parish (St John’s Miami and St Mark’s Currumbin congregations) met to consider recommendations from their parish council regarding their future.

Just five items were on the agenda. The meeting approved the purchase of land at Tallebudgera Creek Road, a master plan for diverse services, fundraising initiatives including LLL matching deposits, and the project name “St Andrews” in honour of disciple Andrew who invited his brother Simon Peter and others to come and meet Jesus (John 1:40-42).

WOW! What an exciting decision. What an awesome God. First, he gave the dream. Then he expanded the dream. Now we’d agreed to embrace the dream.

Things don’t always go the way you hope they will go. But we persevered and we have a lot to be thankful for. As Christians, it is important that churches are active in the community in ways that matter, doing things that the community cares about.

God gave the dream. Wisely, He didn’t give us the whole dream up front, just piece by piece, from one way of serving to many ways of serving. The dedicated members of the southern Gold Coast parish were the people who grabbed hold of His dream and ran with it. The result is what you see at St Andrews today, beyond what we could ever have dreamed of, a thriving church, school, and aged care centre.

Ultimately Christian service and ministry is not our doing; it is God’s doing through us. He relies on people like you and me and others to get His work done.

What a legacy for the Gold Coast south community. To God be the glory, great things he has done, for us and through us!

The vision of St Andrews was born from the Holy Spirit.

I was the Chairman of the Elders of Miami congregation and Chairman of the combined Miami/Currumbin parish elders. I was impressed by what was happening with the school and congregation at Ashmore and felt that we had the community to support a similar idea.

I spoke to other elders who supported the idea. At that time, we needed to call a new pastor. Pastor Colin Helbig accepted our call and was in full support of our dream.

The original vision focused on creating a new church and school. When Pastor Helbig came on board that changed to include three services – church, school and aged care – all co-located. It became known as supporting the community from “cradle to grave”.

We presented the idea to the parish who were enthusiastic about it, so we needed to get Synod approval. Claude Harm and I outlined our vision before Synod, but the Vice Chairman told us we were dreaming! He wanted to know how we would afford it, as we were struggling just to pay the Pastor. I had to admit, we didn’t know that yet!

During the discussion that followed it was Pastor Rob Erickson who came to our defence. He said if God wants this, money won’t be a problem. If he had not said this, I don’t think Synod would have approved it, but miraculously they did. It was voted in and got a lot of support from the district both then and in the following planning and development.

True to Pastor Rob’s comments someone came forward after Synod and offered to lend us $600,000. God is good! This allowed us to start looking for land. We looked at a lot of sites and when I first saw the Andrews land I thought: Gosh how are we going to build on this land? It’s so steep.

The project was four and a half years in the planning. The early stage of the school was developed first and then aged care.

There were many roadblocks along the way ... there was even a local petition to stop the development! No town sewerage etc, etc. But we had the right people in the right place. I always believed it should happen but often wondered how we could overcome the many obstacles – but each time solutions were eventually found. God had his way.

One of the initial challenges was having enough land for the development of the aged care service so we needed to look for more land.

I approached 80-year-old Eric Stevens who lived on the two-acre corner block next to the church and school – it’s where the sign for the aged care service sits today. Eric’s wife’s family had owned the original land and homestead. A real estate agent had warned me that Eric would set his dogs on me if I were to approach him.

When I arrived, Eric was chopping wood with an axe and his barking dogs surrounded my car. “I’m not for sale,” he said.

I told him we didn’t want to buy his land – could he call his dogs off and we go inside for a cup of tea? He then put the axe down, but I wasn’t getting out of the car until he tied up the dogs!

After discussions and considerations, Eric agreed to swap his land for an independent living unit. I’m sure again God had a hand in that. Eric designed his own unit – number three – to his specifications, including a fuel stove (he didn’t like electricity), water tank, two balconies and workshop underneath.

Eric’s original block of land was called Coolibah – which is the name of the multifunction space and chapel today.

There was a carpet snake that lived in the ceiling of the original homestead where we held many of the preliminary meetings, and it would come down in the most unusual times. I sat on him once – we both got a fright! I chased him through the house with a broom and eventually got him out through the front door.

It often felt like we were the surfers on a wave and God was the wave. That’s how St Andrews came into being and is now a wonderful success. I always believed it would happen though there were so many obstacles to overcome.

I’m part of a new congregation now, but I still care for this one – it’s good to come back.

I was the treasurer of the Gold Coast South Lutheran parish when the idea of combining both congregations was floated.

A committee was set up to secure a site, initially for a new school and central congregation, which included those from Miami and Currumbin. I was not involved in the land purchase. When I found out what we did buy, I was not impressed. I only saw problems!

Although we had good political support from local, state and federal members, the rezoning had many obstacles.

An initial concept plan was commissioned for the aged care, which was not fit for purpose. It was redone to the current buildings – low and high care hostel facilities and a number of independent living units.

Serious earthworks were carried out initially to allow for the construction of the aged care buildings.

The aged care service was funded federally, which helped finance a sewerage connection with the capacity for the entire future St Andrews site. A private rising main was built to West Burleigh village. This system greatly helped the school in the early stages as money was very short.

Several master plans for the school were approved by council. During this time, both congregations sold our two churches and the manse.

The worship centre was designed by Peter Gardner (Peddle Thorp) who also designed our aged care buildings, which still work well today.

Money was always short, but a variety of internal agreements and land transactions helped us to complete the site as seen today.

The standout “value add” for the school was the major earthworks deal. A small onsite mountain was blasted and ripped, and the high-value blue metal boulders taken interstate to construct a sea wall. The school was blessed that this deal was put together with the help of Tom Regan, our civil engineer at the time. It worked well for both parties and delivered us a usable site and large oval. This work allowed the secondary school to be built at relatively low cost to the school of $500,000, with five annual payments of $100,000 over five years. We recently estimated the cost to do similar work today would be over $30,000,000.

The cooperation across the congregation, school and aged care has been unique in my opinion.

I was on the church council when they suggested that we take the two congregations – Miami and Currumbin – and merge them into one. The cradle to the grave idea was supposed to have the childcare centre, the school, the aged care, and of course the congregation bringing the churches with them. It was a great vision. We just were excited by it. It was just like, you know, we can do this.

We looked around a few blocks of land and we found this one. We sold both churches and our manse. We brought the little Currumbin Church with us; it's great to keep the connection to the old church.

We worshipped there and over at the school until the new worship centre was built. We still have services in the little church today!

When we first got the land, I loved all the big trees. I didn’t realise how challenging the build would be at first. It was so mountainous it would have been like having a cross country.

We had working bees to get work done. My husband Garry and I helped put in the concrete to get up to the school. I’m not sure it was legal ... you’re supposed to have it a certain angle!

Garry worked at the school as a cleaner. He also got roped in to doing the leadlight doors at the aged care service. He and another congregation member, Vicki Harm, were doing a course. I was too, but cut myself on the first day and didn’t go back! My Mum volunteered them to do the work – it was immaculate.

My Mum, Freda, would dob everybody in when she wanted us to do stuff, she was great like that. She nominated my sister to volunteer on reception, and she ended up getting a paid job!

Mum and Dad were always going to move to St Andrews. They both wanted to go into an independent living unit, but Dad passed away before it happened. Mum still moved in and stayed there until she moved into Acacia.

They both put a lot of work into it. Mum was always at the committees, or ironing – whatever she could do, she would be there doing it.

She helped with the shopping trolley too. She’d go around and give out things on Mother’s and Father’s Day. She was always at the aged care, and she and Dad were always at the weekly card games between the congregation and residents. We still do that.

The aged care service has always been really responsive to the congregation. They were always happy for us to hold functions there. We had scrapbooking weekends, and we did international dinners. We used the kitchen to make Thai food to raise some money. I’ve always found the aged care service to be very, very welcoming and supportive of the congregation.

A good story is relatable. It is also lifechanging and inspires us in what we think or do. The story of St Andrews is a good story.

I have been Pastor at St Andrews for the past six years, and was pastor at Trinity Lutheran College, Ashmore from 1998 to 2001, during which time I was a member of St Andrews College Council. I have then been privileged to see St Andrews near its very beginning, to now come back and see what it is today.

I believe that St Andrews is the success it is because of prayer and people. God wanted the “cradle to grave” idea to work here, and it did. Many other communities would have been overstretched to try and build all three components of St Andrews, but the right people were here to bring the church, school and aged care service together – people with passion, vision, and expertise. There are so many people who gave so much for so long.

The congregation was a combination of the Currumbin and Miami churches. It was very unusual for two churches to amalgamate. It was a big deal for them to look ahead and think, we’re going to do better at what we’re called to do and for the future, together. If they had stayed separate, we wouldn’t have the aged care. We wouldn’t have the school. For a congregation to start a school, college, and aged care – that’s huge. And it speaks to the people who were there.

That commitment and care are still strong here. St Andrews Aged Care connects generations together – we have staff with kids at school and students who visit the residents.

Some of the independent living units look down on the school oval. Residents love having their grandkids come along at lunchtime and to have a chat and a wave, and they love sitting out and watching sports days.

I’ve been a pastor just over 30 years and over half that time I’ve been full time in schools, and I’ve always had school involvement. But I’ve never been in a context before where there’s been both aged care and schools. We have good links, and I think that’s because we’ve got the people here who are involved in both. I knew a resident who moved into the aged care service, became a member of our church, and then her grandchildren started coming to the school. There is so much strength in having the three together.

My journey with aged care started when my mum moved into a service in Melbourne. Spending a lot of time with her in her new home reminded me what you hear in the media about needing more people working in this industry. I thought, well, I can do a couple of days a week and maybe make a difference – just being able to communicate clearly and understand where residents might have come from.

I went and did my Personal Carers course. I come from a school teaching background and have my Bachelor of Education and some other studies. I’ve also taught Zumba for older adults.

All that led me to having an interview to become a carer at St Andrews. They rang back after looking at my resume and asked if I’d be interested in their lifestyle coordinator role, which is what I hoped to work my way up to!

I was offered a job at another service, but I held off because I thought this is where I really want to be. I’ve been the Creative Programs and Volunteer Coordinator at St Andrews for over a year now.

My children went to high school at St Andrews Lutheran College. I remember when my daughter was in year nine telling me how she loved coming across to the aged care. She told me they just sat and had conversations, and it was really sweet the way you’d listen to a story then two minutes later, the resident would tell you the same story again.

We actually have some year nines coming to visit again. Within our Lifestyle activity program, we really have a lot of intergenerational contact.

We set up a program with the Early Learning Centre within the school, so once a month the students walk over here to join in an activity with the residents – like the bean bag throw, bowling pins and drawing. They all just interact. It is lovely and there’s lots of energy.

They kids come here two months in a row and then the third month we take six to eight residents in our minibus around and sit in on their activities.

The residents just love seeing the little kids. They’re sitting there getting dress-up clothes put on them or playing with the playdough or doing jewellery. The interaction and the joy that the residents get from the children is amazing.

The grade twos are coming over one afternoon a week too, to play bocce with the residents – they just walk across the oval, through the back gate. It’s a benefit of having the different services on one site.

The school principal, deputy, the year four choir and the year eleven and twelve leaders come across and run our ANZAC day service. That was a hugely attended event. It’s a big job getting everyone out of bed and into their wheelchairs and wheelie walkers and down to our chapel – but it’s another connection with the school.

We also celebrated Mother’s Day with the college. Some family members joined too – it’s nice for them to be able to come out somewhere with their loved one. The year eleven hospitality students put on a very fancy morning tea.

Everyone got spoiled with silver service and the kids were so attentive – but the highlight for the residents was chatting to the students about what they are studying and their future. They had big smiles and were asking when we could do it again before we’d even left!

All those interactions all the way through from early learning right through to the senior students is amazing.

I’m so lucky with my role – I really enjoy it. I teach seated dance and get a bit silly with the old music – singing along. We have concerts and morning teas. There was even a Shetland pony here the other day! A Shetland pony, five dogs, and three chickens. It’s like Disneyland for residents.

One of our residents, Ray, used to play dominoes and card games with a couple of residents. When they passed away, he was a bit lost. So, I started chatting to him and he taught me how to play Canasta. He’s good friends with John and Helen Howard, who I didn’t know at the time were foundation members of this whole place, so every second Friday I block out an hour and a half and I get to play Canasta with the three of them. It’s just a lovely extra connection.

I was the first to offer chaplaincy at St Andrews Aged Care starting in 1994 and was well received by staff and residents. At the same time, I was the pastor of St Andrews congregation and chaplain at the college. There was never any formal induction into the chaplaincy role St Andrews Aged Care or St Andrews College. It was just expected, and I was happy to help.

I joined St Andrews soon after most of the complex had been built – some of the aged care units were still underway. The swimming pool and dementia ward were also built during my time there.

I was at St Andrews from 1994 to 1998 and thoroughly enjoyed it. There was good rapport between the aged care service and the church – at that time, some residents were also part of the congregation. I have many fond memories of my time at St Andrews Aged Care for many reasons. It was a magnificent setting, I loved the people, and there was a great team ably led by John Howard. The place was wholesome, with a good spirit. Everyone worked well as a team.

While there I conducted the wedding of a beautiful couple, aged in their early 80s. The man, a bachelor, had been a resident of St Andrews for some time. The woman took up residency sometime later, after the death her husband. She was still grieving deeply, distressed and very lonely. It so happened that she was seated next to the man at mealtime. The man befriended her, helped her cope with her grief and helped her get on with her living. Having fallen in love they decided to get married. And they did! It turns out that she had a wonderful sense of humour. While they were engaged, she joked with her hairdresser that if she and her husband-to-be had children, they’d send them to St Andrews school!

I officiated at the wedding and the event became prime time watching on TV on all three major channels at the time. The Service Manager, John Howard, arranged for her to have a unit alongside her new husband’s, with a door inserted to join the two. They were very happy!

Because the congregation had no pastor’s study, John arranged for me to use a unit in the complex. It was a generous offer, and I loved it. Two units away from mine was a unit occupied by a lovely resident who invited me, on a weekly basis (if possible), to their unit at about 5pm on a Friday, for a brandy. The resident was a bit of a character – a real gem, whose son and daughter are part of the congregation.

Naturally I took weekly church services, taking devotions in different areas and spent time visiting all the elderly and officiating at some residents’ funerals. I have fond memories of pastoring there.

I’ve been part of the St Andrews community for 28 years. I moved from Adelaide to teach at the college in 1997, at which time I also joined the congregation. I began working as the Aged Care Chaplain 13 years ago.

The community of St Andrews was well established by the time I arrived. It was clear that many people had given their time and talents to see the vision of the shared campus come to life. Seeing the college principal mowing the lawn on the weekend was one example of the way people served outside of their paid work to create and maintain spaces where community could grow and flourish.

I remember when the Service Manager, John Howard, appointed Erika Rose as the first chaplain at St Andrews Aged Care. When it was announced at church I thought “wow, a female can do that!” I was so inspired! She laid great foundations and built strong relationships; I am proud to follow in her footsteps.

Erika was the first chaplain to have a role enmeshed in the facility, dedicated to just the aged care. Prior to her position, Pastor Martin Schirmer and then Pastor Ed Szabo visited the aged care as part of their role as the local St Andrews congregation minister. After Erika was appointed, and to this day, the local Lutheran Pastor continued to lead Tuesday worship every few weeks. Erika continued her service to the aged care through volunteering, as have many other members of the congregation over the years.

Children have always been a welcome and important part of life at St Andrews Aged Care. When I was teaching at the college I accompanied the choir on the piano. Once a year we had an eisteddfod for which we had a special rehearsal day. With the college only a few years old and not yet housing an acoustic piano, the best place to practise was the aged care where there was a piano and an audience!

Sunday school children from the church have made visits over the years, and now the youngest members of the college in the Early Learning Centre (ELC) walk all the way from the other end of the campus to the aged care to share time in music and activities. Residents from the aged care go over to the ELC on the bus to return the visit and love to be amongst the students in their learning environment.

Students of many other ages also visit the aged care service to share time and stories. In the early days before the internet, visits included computer lessons, and more recently painting murals on outside garden walls, playing bocce with residents and sharing musical talent.

The ANZAC service at the aged care is led by student leaders, and this year also included a choir from the Junior School. Coolibah was full with half of our residents and about 40 students, which gave an extra special intergenerational feel to this shared remembrance occasion.

The Christmas season includes a combined worship service where congregation members visit the aged care for carols and readings. A congregation member visits each resident with a greeting, gift and tract.

It is wonderful to have spaces where groups can visit. The design of the building lends itself to community engagement but also showcased its practical functionality during times of COVID restrictions. As our building has six houses of 12 rooms, residents were able to maintain connection with other residents in their immediate area while also adhering to the mandates for minimising potential for infection to spread. With easy access to garden areas, residents were still able to spend time in the great outdoors.

Connection to nature, other people and faith are important aspects of wellbeing for people of any age and remain a focus of our resident centred holistic care. With St Andrews Aged Care having presence and support of people from the college and church within the campus, the St Andrews community continues to live out the vision of the foundational members.

Debra: We both held a variety of roles at St Andrews. I started there in 1998 as a Registered Nurse – the only one on staff at the time – then became the Quality Manager, Education, 2IC to the Director of Nursing, and then Director of Nursing. I really enjoyed my ten years at St Andrews – in fact it was me who got Garry to join the team!

Garry: We had just finished a trip around Australia, and I was between jobs when Debbie suggested I volunteer to drive the bus at St Andrews in 1999. The usual bus driver/maintenance man was on holidays, and I held a heavy vehicle licence. After four weeks it turned out the maintenance man was not returning to the role. I was always handy, so I took on the position. The Service Manager at the time, John Howard, ended up giving me responsibility for all non-clinical departments.

I had worked for 20 years in business development and the hospitality industry, so had a lot of experience working with people and managing operations. In 2003, John moved to the Support Centre, and I took on the role of Service Manager. I was interviewed by John Howard, Milton Eckermann, and Reverend Ed Szabo – I remember that Rev Szabo had a bright red Holden with personalised numberplates reading RevEd!

I was the second Service Manager at St Andrews. I did that for six years before leaving and coming back almost 10 years later.

Aged care changed a lot in the time I was away. St Andrews used to be a low-care hostel; residents were generally younger, and more mobile. They’d be up and about making their own morning tea! So, I witnessed first-hand how staff had to adapt to providing a higher model of care. The planned nursing home was never built as the hostel morphed to meet those needs.

The team had been very autonomous before Lutheran Community Care took over the management of the service. There was lots of angst about loss of control, but I could see that as the service evolved it had to be run as a business – and that could be done more efficiently through a centralised team.

Garry and Debra Pankhurst

Garry Pankhurst
St Andrews Aged Care employee (1999–2009; 2018–2019): Bus driver/maintenance man; Service Manager

Debra Pankhurst
St Andrews Aged Care employee (1998–2008): Quality Manager; Education; 2IC to the Director of Nursing; Director of Nursing

I worked at St Andrews Aged Care for 28 years. I started in April 1996, doing work experience as a personal carer. I worked there on weekends and looked after my children during the week.

The first time I walked in I thought, “Well, this looks like a resort!” It wasn’t quite what I expected. People think aged care will be full of doom and gloom.

When I joined, the aged care service still wasn’t full. When we got full occupancy, all the staff got a fruit cake.

In those days we also used to clean the rooms, make the breakfast and do laundry, that sort of stuff. None of the staff ever left though, unless their family was moving or something like that. It had to do with the community feel. There were always good people – staff, families, and residents.

I ended up doing my diversional therapy (DT) study, as it was called then. When a position opened up at St Andrews, I joined the DT team. I was in the lifestyle team until I retired in 2024.

In lifestyle, my job was to make people feel good, needed and valued. I wanted to make new memories. The residents had their old memories, but I wanted to make new memories for them too. I just tried to make it fun. We’d do tea tasting or mocktails or winter wonderland. I always wanted to make events memorable.

We used to have the school kids come over to play bingo and bowls. When the kids visited, the energy levels went up – the residents would be laughing and smiling. It was a benefit of having the aged care and the school and childcare all at the one location. The kids would just walk over the paddock to us.

My children went to school there too when they were little and they’d walk over after school and chat with the residents until I finished work.

It was, to be honest, a fun place to be. You had little moments with people – built a rapport. I used to go in on Christmas Day even though I wasn’t working. A lot of residents were out with their families, but we’d go in and give drinks to the ones still there.

I’d go to all the op shops for zany costumes and decorations for our theme days. Sometimes I think we went above and beyond and a bit over the top! But it was our time to shine.

We used the Coolibah room for our big theme days. We would have residents from the aged care service and the independent living units, and families … I think we had about 130 people down there one time. It was massive! We got used to setting it for all the wheelie walkers and chairs and wheelchairs and still get people able to move around.

At one stage we had a rescue cat, Neil. He had his favourite people and used to stay with one lady all the time. When she passed away the funeral was downstairs in Coolibah. Neil came downstairs, walked up the centre aisle, walked around the coffin of this lady, sat there for a minute and walked out. It was just unbelievable! I never saw him in Coolibah before or since.

Later on, there were more high care people. We’d have concerts every Thursday and do the “YMCA”. We grabbed some of the staff and some of the residents and the other residents and their families would mimic the YMCA signs. So, we’d have people from the kitchen and the carers and the office all up the front there doing this silly dance. The smile on the residents’ faces when you’re dancing with them was always a big plus.

The pandemic was the most challenging time of my career at St Andrews. It was a nightmare trying to isolate people, and the poor carers wearing aprons and masks, and within half an hour you were soaked.

It was hard not having the families visit. We were running around doing FaceTime calls and trying to entertain residents in their rooms. The Lifestyle team tried to help out where we could – a couple of us are carers anyway. But you can only do so much.

I think we always got on well with the families; it was a real community. They connected with us – we were their support. We were there for them too.

We were part of the Currumbin congregation when they decided to start on this project of the school, church, and aged care.

St Andrews became our local congregation. When I retired, I started volunteering in the aged care hostel, tidying the cupboards, ironing, and running the shopping trolleys. Erika Rose, the Chaplain there, talked me into it – she started the trolley. I liked doing it and just kept going. It was nice getting to know all the people in there; I made a lot of friends.

I ran the shopping trolley for 20 years, along with some of the other retirement living residents. You’ve got to have two people doing the trolley. So, I asked my husband Noel if he would come and help me. And he did too!

We sold cards and treats to the aged care residents; the trolley was managed by the Ladies’ Guild and all the profits were donated back to St Andrews.

I’m still with the Ladies’ Guild – I have been ever since I retired. I worked with the girls catering and doing trading tables, raising money and cleaning the church.

I don’t do the trolley anymore, but we play cards at least once a week in the Coolibah room and a few come down from the hostel and the units.

Claude Harm was instrumental in getting that entertainment room down underneath Coolibah, which we now use for church movies, meetings, cards, all sorts. He was part of the congregation and on the committee and a good worker for the church.

Noel and I lived at Elanora at this stage. Noel was over 80 and we thought that maybe we should get out into a small unit where we don’t have to do repairs – he kept falling off the roof!

We decided to look at the units at St Andrews and saw that this is where we wanted to be. Elanora was good, but this is home. We moved into the unit at St Andrews in 2009 and I’m still there 15 years later.

Noel had dementia. I think the office noticed that I was getting a bit run down. He would go into respite care every so often when I needed a break. He gradually moved into the aged care dementia wing permanently.

We used to help a gentleman who had moved up from Adelaide. He didn’t have any family up here. He liked Noel and asked him to drive him to doctor’s appointments and those sorts of things. I made him cake – always a date loaf.

Eventually he got into St Andrews too. He wanted to leave us money in his will, but we told him to give it to the church. His bequest was eventually used to build the manse.

It’s good living here – I’ve met a lot of people and enjoyed volunteering after I retired.

Irene Henseleit
St Andrews Lutheran Church Tallebudgera congregation
Retirement Living resident
Ladies Guild Member
Volunteer