The Catholic Leader Flipbook - Issue 5594 - March 22

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The Catholic Leader, March 22, 2020
SENIOR LIVING
Advertising
Feature
028
manager@delamoreretirement.com.au
115 Turner Rd Kedron Q 4031
www.delamoreretirement.com.au
SERVICED APARTMENTS
FOR SALE FROM $110,000
DISCOVER OUR COMMUNITY
We acknowledge those who have served Australia in
peace and in war, and we thank them for their sacri ce DISCOVER OUR COMMUNITY
OPEN DAY 2020
Sunday 5 April - 10am - 12pm | 115 Turner Rd, Kedron Qld 4031
| Telephone: 07 3357 7028
Delamore is nestled in the leafy suburb of Kedron
just 10 kms from the CBD. Major shopping
centres are located nearby. Prince Charles and
St Vincent’s hospital are on the local bus route.
Kedron’s Little Flower Church is opposite.
You’ll love this boutique retirement community. Delamore
offers a 24-hour emergency call system. Little flower church
is 200 mtrs from accommodation.
In a peaceful and beautiful environment residents
consider Delamore home.
For more information email
See more at
115 Turner Rd, Kedron, QLD 4031 Telephone: 07 3357 7028
TWO BEDROOM UNITS AND SERVICED
APARTMENTS NOW AVAILABLE
Kedron gem: The Missionary Franciscan Sisters have owned Delamore House, in Kedron, since 1935. It is now the peaceful hub
of a retirement community.
Delamore still a special hub
THE first three Missionary Franciscan Sisters
arrived in Kedron in 1930.
They were Irish women who came from Rome, Boston and
Savannah in the United States.
The Little Flower Parish at Kedron, in Brisbane’s north, had
been placed in the care of the Franciscan Friars the previous year,
and the mission of the sisters was the establishment of the primary
school in the parish.
At that time Kedron lay on the outskirts of Brisbane.
The tram from the city stopped near the Kedron Park Hotel, and
the racetrack opposite the hotel was a popular attraction.
Kedron was home to a number of tanneries and sawmills.
It was not a wealthy area as the Depression was affecting all
aspects of life and nearly a half of local residents were unem-
ployed.
The sisters arrived in Kedron in mid-January and managed to
open the school to the first hundred students two weeks later.
Their memoirs remark on the generosity of families who had
little themselves but always sent some food to be shared with the
children who had less.
Some years later the sisters established Mount Alvernia College
nearby.
In 1935 the sisters bought the beautiful old Delamore House
which then became their headquarters, residence and formation
house.
Delamore was the powerhouse of the sisters’ mission and the
sisters went out to establish schools in many places.
Many sisters went out on mission to faraway places like Papua
New Guinea, Bolivia, China, Chad, Egypt and Thailand.
By the mid-1980s the number of sisters had fallen and Delam-
ore House was too big for the sisters’ needs.
They began to seek out other uses for the beautiful historic
house and its surrounding land.
At that time, Brisbane archdiocese suggested that aged care was
an area of great growth and significant need.
In 1990 the first stage of Delamore Retirement Community
was formally blessed and opened.
Delamore was built in three stages and has 46 independent-
living units and 18 supported-living apartments.
Adjoining the retirement community are areas where the sisters’
leadership offices, chapel and residential wings are situated.
Sisters still come and go from across the world.
The sisters’ vision for Delamore is for a peaceful, purpose-built
retirement community where older residents could enjoy secure
independent living with the benefits of living in a supportive com-
munity.
Recently the sisters and the residents gathered to celebrate the
90 years of the sisters’ presence in Kedron.