Couple celebrates 70 wonderful years
A WILLINGNESS to take risks and a pioneering spirit has been evident in the lives of Toowoomba couple Gordon and Betty Vandersee as they celebrate 70 years of marriage.
While Gordon was brought up on the family farm outside Crows Nest, Betty spent her youth in Pittsworth where her family owned a drapery store.
It was only once they both sought employment in Toowoomba that they met and love blossomed.
Gordon, who was a cadet engineer, always felt Betty was out of his league but the young telephonist obviously saw his potential.
On November 15, 1947 they married in the Brookes St Methodist Church, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.
Times were tough and holidays were expensive so Gordon sought permission from his new employer to take Betty on a sales trip to Cairns as a combination honeymoon/work trip.
Gordon’s connection with the land soon beckoned and, following a short stint on a pineapple farm in Caboolture and a piggery in Beaudesert, the couple nominated for a land ballot in Central Queensland.
They were lucky to win one of the 2000 hectare blocks divided from the failed British Food Corporation located about 30km north of Clermont.
Times were tough, with the pair having to build their own home, construct roads and even erect their own telephone line.
Gordon bought a tractor in Brisbane and, with the help of his brother Claude, they drove it the 1000km to their property Bungarra.
After another nine years of country life, the family farm was sold followed by a move to Toowoomba.
In 1963 Gordon set about designing an industrial front end loader.
Agricultural tractor and machinery franchises were offered to Gordon and in the last 54 years, their small company gradually grew into the large agricultural retailer Vanderfield.
The company, whose headquarters are in Toowoomba, now has multiple sales and service territories across Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia.
All of Gordon and Betty’s five children have at some time worked in the business, two currently active and three retired.
Gordon and Betty continue to live in their home on the Toowoomba range and enjoy visits from their family including nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.