Datec. 1979DescriptionShirley McLeod going on one of 36 parachute jumps at Wilton, NSW. Shirley took on skydiving and gliding in her spare time.
Shirley McLeod is the eldest child of Norm and Gwen McLeod and was born at Fairview Private Hospital in Smart Street Fairfield on 6 March 1934. Her two brothers were also born there.
Shirley attended Smithfield Public School and then Parramatta High School. From school she became a pupil of Burroughs Business College and learnt to be a Comptometer Operator. Her only job before her marriage was at the Metropolitan Meat Industry Board at Homebush where she did wages and bonuses.
On 25 June 1955 she married a German migrant Ernst Willim Jurgeit at St James Church in Smithfield and moved from the district. They were to have 5 children in the marriage which ended in 1976. She worked at various jobs whilst raising her children including office work and cab driving. She also took on skydiving and gliding in her spare time and in 1988 sailed as a crew member on one of the Bi- Centenary Fleet ships.
Shirley became a Justice of the Peace in 1977 and qualified in Human Resource Management in 1985. Most of her employment was in the area of payroll and human resources. She retired in 1992.
Her first volunteer work was with the NSW Police where she remained from 1992 to 1997. During her service with the police she was also on the Community Council at Wetherill Park Police Station.
Shirley is a volunteer teacher of Australian history at University of the Third Age and lectures at two classes in the Parramatta area. She has been with them for 15 years. She has also been a Volunteer with The Prospect Heritage Trust since 1993.
In 2000 she became a Volunteer at Cabramatta Library in the Local and Family History area where she has been instrumental in interviewing many people from the Fairfield District for The Way We Were Project. To-date Shirley has interviewed over 200 local residents. For that work she was awarded an Australia Day Medallion in 2009 by Fairfield City Council.
She was commissioned in 2009 also to interview a group of migrants for the online Belongings project. This was for Fairfield City Museum in conjunction with the NSW Migrant Heritage Centre.
In 2005 Shirley graduated from The University of New England with an Advanced Diploma in Local, Family and Applied history. To-date she is volunteering for the above organisations.
The McLeod family connection with Fairfield commenced in 1896 with the marriage of John McLeod to Iniz Selina Annie Stein at St James Church of England Smithfield. Iniz was from the well known Stein family of which many lived in the Fairfield area. The family has had connection with the Fairfield district from 1896 to the present. Geolocation[1]
Details
Image ColourColourPrint SizeB & W; Size: 100mm x 150mmCopyright Owner(s)Fairfield City Council
