McIndoe House looks close to home and finds heroes

By Elaine Kelly | Posted: Friday March 12, 2021

McIndoe House has taken up the theme of heroes during house assemblies this term. This fits in well with the whole school value focus of respect and we started out by honouring the heroes of athletics day who ensured a sound win in the first house competition.

Following on from that Oliver McKewen, the new House Leader for 2021 gave a great speech about a hero of his. Enjoy reading Oliver's speech here. He is very lucky to have had such an inspirational woman in his family.

The person I admire the most!

My great, great Aunty Anne, was a Little Sister of the Poor, who died at the tender age of 104 years, 4 months short of her 105th birthday. Born in 1914 in Arrowtown, she became a nun in the early 1930s in Australia. For the first twenty years, she lived overseas working in old people's homes in China, France, Hong Kong, Australia, Sri Lanka, Samoa and NZ. During this time, she was a prisoner of war not only in China between 1935-39 when the Japanese invaded but also in occupied France from 1939 to 1944. She escaped China before Communism took over in 1948, the last sister to leave before borders were closed.

Post-China, she was Mother Superior in Sri Lanka, Australia, Samoa and NZ. She project-managed two new old people's homes in Samoa and Dunedin (Brockville). She was an astute businesswoman. She retired to Dunedin, living and working in Brockville old people's home, still feeding residents much younger than herself, up until she was 103 years old.

She was honoured by the Queen for service to the community but this is not what I admired the most about her. She lived life to the full. Despite adversity, she was always positive about life and the people around her. She had a strong faith but she never forced her religious beliefs on the people she met. She always had a smile on her face and made you feel important and special. She had a great memory and was young at heart. She taught me to be honest, positive, respectful and be thankful for the small things in life.

My last fond memory before she passed away was my last visit to see her three days before she died. Unlike most old people when they die whose mind goes before their body, she was the opposite. She was still mentally alert but her body was failing her. Unable to talk and move, we all said our goodbyes with a hug and a kiss knowing it would be the last time we would see her alive. I was one of the first to do this. When leaving the room, I walked past my dad and flicked him on his backside. After doing this, I turned around to see Aunty Anne watching me with a smile on her face and giving me the thumbs up! Still enjoying life and people to the full until her very last day.

To leave you with one final thought, the person you admire the most doesn’t have to be a famous sportsman, singer, actor or YouTuber. It could be a person close to you in life such as a family member, friend, coach or teacher. So, look around you! Could your hero be right under your nose? In my case, it was my great, great Aunty Anne (RIP).

By Oliver McKewen