Betty Quigley is a very active lady who has worked as a cleaner at St Patrick’s College in Launceston for thirty years. Her impact on the College goes far beyond the spotlessness of the offices that she cleans. She was awarded the ‘Mary Townsend Award’ voted by the staff as the staff member most deserving of respect and most representative of the College ethos.
Betty shows great hospitality to visitors and is a great supporter of staff and students. She’s a happy, humble person who is loved by the staff; even when she gets crabby at them leaving their dishes on the sink. She participates fully in liturgies, spirituality days, works out of hours to cover special events and generally lives the mission of the College.
Betty loves her work, and says the staff are great at St Patrick’s College and the students are polite and helpful. She loves it when students offer to help her. She is grateful to John Gaetani, the groundsman at St Patrick’s back in 1984, who told her of the job opening. She enjoys a wonderful partnership with her husband Kevin who shares the cleaning work at the College and drives her where she needs to go.
She is a living testament to plenty of activity and exercise as the key to health and vitality. As well as working full time at the College, Betty has worked for the Old Boys’ Football Club washing jumpers and cooking dinners, sung in St Peter’s choir at Youngtown, been involved in the parish as a special minister and brought up three children. Her children were all students at St Patrick’s and now have children of their own. Betty has four grandchildren living in Melbourne and Rockhampton who are her pride and joy.
Betty keeps her age to herself, but her husband, Kevin recently celebrated his 80th birthday. She certainly doesn’t see retirement on the horizon.
“I’ll keep going while I’m healthy enough. There’s always something to do,” Betty said.
Business Manager Phil Hollingsworth says Betty is a ‘dynamo’ who never sits down.
“You don’t get in her way!” he said.
Betty Quigly is well-deserving of the Award for Outstanding Service as an Employee within Catholic Education.