Phalma Louise McDonald

Let me tell a little about my maternal grand-parents ..... William Albert McDonald and Palma Louis McDonald (nee Williams).

I remember we were living at Hindmarsh (a suburb of Adelaide) and Grandad was a manager of seven farming properties around the Karoonda/Sherlock district. When he retired they lived at Mindiyarra (about 5km West of Karoonda).

I lived with Nanna and grandad for about 18 months and went to school at Karoonda for a couple of years. Shopping day was always Friday and grandad used to wait (at the pub) for me to finish school. I would meet him and invariably have to drive him home. I think I was eleven or twelve the first time. The local copper said "Mac, you've had a little too much, better let your grandson drive you home".

One day, I was called to the Principal's office and was informed that Nanna had an accident at the railway station. She was aged 72 at the time. She had tried to board the train as it was moving, lost her footing, and fell between the platform and the train - subsequently she lost both legs. She was a very strong willed, lovable "nanny". Nothing could keep her down. She survived in a wheelchair until she was 86. ln her last years she lived with grandad at "Little Sisters of the Poor" in Adelaide. He lived about a year after her passing. They are both buried in Adelaide.

Source : Malcom Cheyne