Driving Miss Maisie…Philp

Maisie Philp was born in 1919 and grew up at Nana Glen.¹ When she was 22 years old in 1941 her family moved to Taree for her father’s work as a railway fettler on the branch line between the two dairy factories.² The family bought a house at 112 Cornwall Street, Taree.³

Maisie was engaged to (Abel) James Paterson with whom she had gone to school at Nana Glen. In 1941, James enlisted with the AIF to fight in WWII.⁴ In 1942 during the fall of Singapore he was taken prisoner and placed in the notorious Changi POW camp. James died of illness there on 20 July 1943 and is buried at the Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, Myanmar.⁵ James was Maisie’s childhood sweetheart. She never married.

Maisie started work on the Forster-Tuncurry-Taree bus service owned by Brien Ivens as the conductress in 1941. Ivens sold to Lorenzo Pappalardo and Maisie continued working for Pappalardo until 1960. Maisie went above and beyond her duty doing shopping for people, delivering parcels, looking after sick school children and taking food orders for holiday makers. She was a popular and well-loved person.⁶

Maisie then worked as a receptionist for Taree chiropractors until 1967 when she retired to care for her ageing parents. She died in 2013 at Karingal Gardens Nursing Home.⁷

Maisie is buried at Dawson River Cemetery where her plaque reads: