Todays Golden Age portrait is of the beautiful Pat. Pat's daughter is a friend of mine, & I have watched her struggle with not only the recent loss of her Dad, but also watching her Mum decline due to Dementia.
I asked her to bring Pat along, & even though she was worried Pat might not react well to the shoot, she was such a darling, & said she was so surprised, & just loved it.
Patricia Flora Tozer
Born 1944
Born in Cooma
Has one sister - Beverley
Pat's dad was a grazier and her mum was a stay at home mum who raised the two girls on the property, her mum never drove.
There was always plenty of jobs on the farm, milking cows, looking after the sheep and cattle.
Coonerang the family farm was purchased in 1902. It was bought as relief country due to the great drought. They rode pushbikes in suits and top hats from Hay, to the Monaro region.
When Pat's dad died in 1968 probate was in ( when the government takes control of the land & possessions) and everyone thought they would lose the farm, but with Pat, her Husband and Pat's sister and lots of help and hard work, they managed to pay the probate out after several years.
Mum got married on the 20th March, 1965 to Bruce Tozer, they had 4 children 2 girls and 2 boys. The oldest boy worked on the farm with Dad and was tragically killed in Sept. 2007 by a falling tree.
Pat never stopped working on the farm and if she didn't have dementia she would still be doing it.
She also cleaned for a motel in Cooma and cleaned peoples houses for spare money. Pat trapped foxes to pay for the iron on the roof of the family home, she would walk several kilometres each morning checking her traps with her faithful fox dog Joe.
Pat also loved sewing she made several bridesmaid dresses and heaps of clothes for the family. She also enjoyed playing tennis, Bruce put a court in on the farm. Pat had many trips overseas to places like New Zealand, England, Canada, France, Alaska and Japan.
Bruce sadly died in November, 2022, they have 8 grandkids and 1 great grandchild.
Pat struggles these days with dementia, a very cruel thing for her family to watch. She spends her time living between Cooma & Cooranbong under the care of her family.
