From Tasmanian Milk Bars to the Catwalk: Gold Coast Great-Grandmother Celebrates 100 Years

One of 13 children, a former fashion model, a video store owner, a ballroom dancing “matron of the night” – Helen Whitney has packed more into a century than most of us could fit into several lifetimes. On July 2, she celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by family and friends at Carinity Cedarbrook aged care home in Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast, the place she’s called home for the past eight years.

Helen was born in 1926 in Smithton, in Tasmania’s rugged north-west, to parents Eric and Edith Anthony – one of 13 children in a bustling household of seven boys and six girls. She grew up around Latrobe, near Devonport, where she threw herself into netball and landed her first job at Smith’s Milk Bar.

At just 21, Helen married the love of her life, John Henry Whitney, on 17 January 1948 in Devonport. Their first daughter arrived that same year, the beginning of a family that would eventually grow to six children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Helen and John built a rich and varied working life together. John and his brother Maurice ran a fish and chip shop in Devonport, where Helen regularly pitched in, while also working as a receptionist at Robinsons Photography Studio. But it was Helen’s love of fashion that set her apart. Always immaculately dressed, she went on to model for fashion boutiques across Tasmania and later in Toowoomba.

“Helen loved fashion and always dressed and presented immaculately,” says her daughter, Annette Green. “Her love of fashion led to her modelling for fashion boutiques across Tasmania and later in Toowoomba.”

That flair for dressing up carried through to the dance floor. Helen and John were passionate ballroom dancers, attending balls in old town halls throughout the district – with Helen frequently crowned “matron of the night.”

The Whitneys’ life took them across the country over the decades. After several years in Devonport, John’s work moved the family to Smithton, where they lived for five years and made friendships that lasted a lifetime. In 1969, they relocated to Leongatha in Victoria, before eventually settling in Toowoomba, Queensland, where Helen and John ran a video store together while John also worked in real estate. Summers were spent at Noosa, with the family lazing by the pool, water skiing and fishing.

In retirement, Helen and John moved to the Gold Coast, where they spent their remaining years together enjoying the beaches and watching their family grow.

“Helen was a devoted wife to John and still is the most loving, caring mother and grandmother whose selfless spirit, kindness, and devotion to her family is unwavering,” Annette says. “She is blessed with good genes but also lived a clean healthy lifestyle – and she loved her afternoon beer in the sun.”

These days, Helen keeps herself entertained with knitting, gardening, and a good gossip magazine – she has a particular soft spot for stories about the British royal family.

Congratulations to Helen on reaching this remarkable milestone – a century filled with family, fashion, dancing and plenty of good times in the sun.

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