Boomanoomana calling

The former hospital stood almost opposite where the Cobram Bowling Club is now.

Marie’s paternal grandparents, John James and Bridget (née Gorman) O’Dwyer, had a citrus orchard at ‘Glenavon’, Cobram, which was just south-west of the home of the Cobram Football Netball Club.

Even then, the O’Dwyer name was synonymous with many parts of Cobram.

For instance, ‘Glenavon’ was the namesake of Glenavon St.

The O’Dwyer Medal, co-awarded last year to Cobram’s Sam Beasley, was named after Marie’s uncle, Michael Desmond O’Dwyer.

Marie’s maternal grandparents were James and Elizabeth (née Ross) Parnell of Katamatite.

Marie grew up on the family farm at ‘Glenfield’ Boomanoomana via Barooga.

As a small child, she spent her first few years of schooling at St Joseph’s Cobram while boarding in town during the week with her great aunt, Johanna Parnell.

She completed the latter part of her primary schooling at the Boomanoomana South School after it was established in the mid-1930s.

Her secondary years were spent as a boarder at Sacred Heart in Shepparton.

In 1943, in the midst of World War II, Marie returned home to assist her father on the farm in the drought.

The war was never too far away. The community lived a lean existence during the rationing years, and Marie began working at the Cobram Courier in 1944.

At the Courier, Marie worked in the office as a receptionist.

She occasionally did some reporting under the management of former editor Mr Spurling.

Towards the end of the war, Marie returned home to nurse her mother, who was by then suffering from terminal cancer and who died in November 1946.

Thereafter, Marie remained at home to take care of no fewer than five younger siblings.

Marie was active in community and sporting affairs.

During Easter of 1952, Marie married James (Jim) Walsh at the (old) Barooga Catholic Church.

It may have come as little surprise to some to see the couple tie the knot.

After all, Marie and Jim lived on farms just up the road from each other as children growing up in Boomanoomana.

The happy couple got to work farming at ‘Airlie’ in Boomanoomana where they raised their three children, Ray, Keryne and Damien.

Life on the mixed farm was often hard work, but the O’Dwyer siblings loved it.

They went to school in Barooga, to which Marie and James also took the kids to church.

At the farm where Marie grew up, encounters with snakes were few and far between.

And so it was that Marie was in for a shock when she discovered ‘Arlie’ was home to a particularly robust population of the reptiles.

One day, a snake found its way into the kitchen of the homestead while Marie was cooking.

The encounter was enough to spark a life-long fear of the animals in Marie, who from that day forth achieved the impressive feat of avoiding another snake for the rest of her life.

For some time, the farmhouse had no electricity, so the family, like many others of that time and place, cooked their meals on a wood stove.

Kerosene and candles held the darkness of the nights at bay.

The farmhouse’s supply of water came from the Mulwala Canal, and, to conserve water, the O’Dwyers took to bathing more often than showering.

A mail man brought bread twice a week, while Friday delivered the latest issue of the Courier to the O’Dwyer residence.

Even while living in Boomanoomana, the O’Dwyer family would travel to Cobram-Barooga for many happy reunions with relatives.

Then, in 1976, Marie and Jim decided to sell the farm and move to Wodonga.

At Wodonga, Marie worked for about 10 years as a cook, firstly at the Sanyo Factory, which was brand new back then, then at the Mercy Hospital until her retirement.

There, with the kids grown up, the couple enjoyed many visits back to the Cobram-Barooga district until their respective passings.

Jim predeceased Marie nearly five years ago.

Marie is survived by her three children, five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and her five younger siblings: Gerald O’Dwyer of Barooga, Margaret Mercer of Bentleigh, Bernadette O’Dwyer of Cobram, Gill Toohey of Barooga and Phillip O’Dwyer of Cobram.