June Purcill - Words of Wisdom
This week we caught up with the beautiful June Purcill, “I’ve had a very experienced and lovely life. I’ve always considered people above myself and my parents were very important to me and so is my family.”
Age: 87
Where were you born? A beautiful old place called Cootamundra, NSW
If you could describe your life in one sentence, that would it be? Magic... all of the beautiful things that happened to me and the places I have been too.
What are the most important lessons you've learned in life? Kindness, patience and caring.
What were your hobbies/interests growing up? Tennis and an old sport called vigoro and my most important interest is playing the piano; it still is to this day. I used to play for singers and perform in concerts. My music is my life really, if anything is to sadden me, I go and remember the favourite times Colin and I had, and the sadness soon disappears.
What events were the most memorable in your life? Having the babies! Darling! *laughs* That first labour pain, I won’t forget it, it’s amazing how you get through it, you have one and you continue to have more, and in those days you didn’t know what caused it… *laughs*
What’s your naughtiest moment growing up? Oh this was as an adult! Due to a circumstance I had to take a second job in Cootamundra, at night I had to work at a Café for extra money. (My mother has gone to heaven without ever knowing this *smiles*) on the back of the cook of the café’s motorbike, we went outside Cootamundra, how I did this I don’t know... I climbed a big fence and raided an orchard *laughs*we only got about six apples and it was for us not the cafe. *laughs* There were two beautiful dogs barking at me but thank God they were fenced out, I never did it again. *laughs*
How did you enjoy school? Myself and my favourite friend, Nelly, she and I sat right at the back of the classroom and Sister Benedict called us the blobbys. We didn’t understand schoolwork, I could spell, write, but when it came to learning history, geography, algebra... out the window. So I mostly took music for my subjects. I haven’t regretted it. Judy Doyle always got the front seat *laughs* because she was smart... here are Nel and I at the back... the blobbys. *laughs* The blobbys did pretty well.
What was your first job? It was in a general store in Cootamundra called Cohen’s Corner, I was in the fashion there, selling hats, gloves and handkerchiefs. When I talk about it and think back I did quite well for an uneducated creature. *laughs*
Did you get an allowance? Oh no... my parents were very humble and very poor. I still did chores though, my younger sister would get away with the jobs, and in those days the big aluminium dish, you had to bring the water to the so-called sink, do the dishes… ohh. But we did it. It was for Mum and Dad, especially Mum.
What’s the secret to a happy marriage? Oh… understanding each other, patience and respect.
How did you meet your spouse? Colin worked across the road, one day I saw him in the rain running across the road, and I thought he was a real... what we called in those days ‘upstart’, anyhow, he took a leap... I can see it to this day... leapt over the big running gutter, and he slipped, and he slid to the edge of the corner of the bank. His assistant at the office came in and brought some gloves off me and I said, ‘by Jove I saw that Colin Purcill take a dive today.’ She went back, told him ‘June Johnson saw you fall, and he came back to the shop to show me all of his band aids. So, he asked me if I would like a lime freeze and he said he would have a hot chocolate, he dunked me on his bike around to the Café, and that’s how we met.
We married in Cootamundra and we were married for 60 years, we had five kids together, the naughty boy decided heaven was better. I miss him terribly, he was a great mate of mine, and a good man.
What are you most proud of? If you don’t mind me saying... myself. Colin has been passed now for 12 years, I’ve gone through a fair few harrows and I just think, it’s not self-praise, but it’s praise within myself that I’ve been able to do things I didn’t know a thing about.
Who is the person who influenced your life the most? Why? I think my eldest sister Joan, she was a nursing Nun for 70 odd years, we never got together much, but she always said to me that I chose the hardest profession in life, being married and having children.
Any final words?
The last paper I was in would have been the Cootamundra Herald 45 years ago.