One of Noosa’s most prolific letter writers has sadly lost her battle with cancer.
Kay Fielden passed away peacefully on 26 February.
Kay is well-known in the community for her ardent campaign about the flying foxes in Wallace Park, but many do not know of the significant contribution Kay made to individuals, communities and services in Australia and the Asia Pacific region during her life.
Councillor Ingrid Jackson has shared her thoughts on one of Noosa’s toughest residents.
Kay was always a fighter, right through to the end after battling cancer for many years.
One of the last things Kay did was to dictate the story of her life for publication as a small book for her grandchildren.
Kay was born in Newcastle in 1945 just at the end of WWII.
Soon after, her family moved to a sheep station in Armidale, a lovely lifestyle with swimming pool, tennis courts, lots of visitors and a pet lamb for little Kay.
After six years, the family returned to Newcastle where Kay ended up in hospital with polio for six months. Her mother and father were not allowed to visit her.
Once back home, Kay went to Merriweather Public School and then to Newcastle Girls High, a selective school.
On completing school, Kay rebelled against her father’s university plans and instead accepted a scholarship to a Sydney Art School. She partied rather than studying and lost her scholarship, much to her parent’s chagrin, who then enrolled her in general nursing at Royal Newcastle Hospital.
She grew to love nursing and won the ATNA Prize for Nursing for coming top in the state exams.
It was there that she met her husband Peter, a much-loved and respected doctor.
They married in 1967 and spent time working as a team in Vietnam, Tonga and Darwin, caring for war victims and cyclone survivors.
Peter continued his career at the Royal North Shore, famously inventing a cure for pump lung syndrome that allowed safe lung transplants.
Between 1969 and 1974 they had three children – Katherine, Belinda and Barton. Kay kept busy on school committees and even ran for election to local council.
In 1971 Kay accepted a job as a journalist at the Telegraph where after training she became a crime reporter. Later Kay joined Peter on projects with the Flying Doctor service.
Peter died suddenly of a heart attack in 1976 and, after the State Funeral, Kay’s and their children’s lives changed.
Kay was persuaded to study Law at Macquarie University which was family friendly.
During her studies she helped establish the Macquarie Legal Centre, taking on cases for people in hardship, which eventually led to new credit card laws.
Meanwhile, Kay got involved at Kuringai Chase Council, setting up a range of community services. Kay graduated with a BA in Anthropology, Politics and Sociology in 1983 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1985.
Next came the College of Law. During this period Kay wrote a book: ‘Socialism vs Marxism’ and contributed to another book ‘The Baby Machine’.
Kay’s first job as a lawyer was with the Government Insurance Office at the NSW Supreme Court. She then became a Worker’s Compensation Magistrate. Compassionate, she found for the worker in most cases.
When her stint as Commissioner ended, she went to a small law practice on the NSW Central Coast and began to work in criminal law, before switching to aged-care law.
Kay met partner Maggie in 1999 and they decided to travel around Australia. However when they reached Peregian, Kay discovered she had breast cancer and her 17-year battle with cancer began.
Maggie and Kay stayed in the Noosa Shire, where Kay remained interested in politics and wrote letters to the newspapers about a range of issues, such as stopping the upgraded Bruce Highway going through Pomona and trying to get rid of flying foxes at Wallace Park.
Kay peppered her autobiography with good advice for her grandchildren, especially lauding the value of friendship and helping others.
“My message to you is to contribute to your community as much as you can. And in whatever you do. There are always ways to help others and to bring about change,” she said.
Vale Kay Fielden.
