Archives 

Sad news was received locally of the death of past pupil, Patricia Guinan on June 17. Pat Guinan was College Captain in 1948, one of our oldest living former College Captains. Pat boarded at Kilbreda in the 40s. “I still remember arriving at Mentone station plus a small but heavy trunk of clothes bought so generously by my mother and family who sacrificed precious coupons, because everything was rationed due to the war. Mother Margaret Mary greeted my mother and me in the “Parlour”. Thus began four years of work and fun as one of 60 boarders coming from all parts of Victoria. In the final year – comparable to today’s VCE and called Matriculation, we had to travel at peak hour in the heat of summer, dressed in full uniform to sit for the final exams in all subjects in a hall at the Exhibition buildings - not an experience to be recalled with any degree of pleasure”, Pat recalled. “In retrospect, when I think of the wonderful Nuns, who not only taught all day, but were on supervision duty for study times and our retirement at night, I marvel at their stamina and dedication to our interests. They had little time for personal relaxation”. Apart from that stint living in Mentone, and short spells elsewhere, Pat lived in Kyabram for most of her life and was an esteemed member of the local community there. Pat’s sister, Leone, was in my mum’s class at Kilbreda and was College Captain in 1953. 

As Sr Maria Guinan, a Brigidine sister, Maria was formerly Leader of the Victorian Province at the time when the Mentone Convent was closed and the old building given over to school use. Fortunately, Maria managed to travel to Kyabram before the latest lockdown and was able to spend the last weeks with Pat. Her life will be celebrated in Kyabram later this week. We remember the family in our prayers.

The ever-vigilant Sr Lia alerted us to the fact that past pupil Fiona McCormack (1979) was honoured in the recent Queen’s Birthday Honours list, being awarded an AM for significant service to victims of crime, and to the prevention of family violence. Fiona is Victims of Crime Commissioner and was Chief Executive Officer, Domestic Violence Victoria, 2005-2019. Fiona chairs the board of the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and was nominated as a Kilbreda Past Pupil of Distinction in 2017. 

Another Kilbreda connection in the list was Dr Flavia Cicuttini AM, the sister of staff member Lucia Liberatore, who was honoured for significant service to medicine, and to musculoskeletal disease research.

Damian Smith 

Archives