Laureen showed love for her family
LAUREEN Qualischefski was born on June 2, 1948, in Biddeston.
She was one of seven children born to Laurie Vincent Lobwein and Ada Sophia Lobwein.
Her brothers and sisters were Shirley, Fay, Janice, Ronnie, John and Ray.
She was 13 when the family moved to Toowoomba, where they lived in Raff St.
She was 14 when she met her future husband, Stan Qualischefski.
He and his brother Lloyd were in the Citizen Military Force and on their way to the barracks, they would walk down Raff St.
“One night we were going to the barracks and sitting on the verandah of a house in Raff St, we saw two beautiful girls,” Mr Qualischefski said.
“As the weeks past, we got to know Laureen and Jan (her sister) and it wasn’t long before Laureen and I were going out.”
Mr Qualischefski said Laureen’s father was against it as she was only 15 at the time.
But weeks and months past and Laureen was soon
pregnant.
With her parents’ permission, the two were married on March 26, 1966, when Laureen was six months pregnant.
Their son Johnny was born two months later and Laureen’s mother loved him at first sight.
“We would go out on Saturday nights and Ada would look after Johnny,” Mr Qualischefski said.
As the years passed and the first day of school came, Mr Qualischefski and his wife put Johnny to bed and in the morning he was gone.
He ran away up to his Nana, who didn’t live far away.
“Ada loved Johnny so much that Laureen and I made a heartbreaking decision,” Mr Qualischefski said.
“If we took John from Ada, it would break her heart. My wife and I decided to travel, we knew our son was safe with the one he loved.”
Mr Qualischefski and Laureen went to Melbourne, and Mr Qualischefski got a job as a storeman.
“Saturday nights were ours, (we would) catch a train to the city and do the night clubs,” he said.
“We made new friends fishing and camping, but Saturday nights was just for us.
“We became so close nothing or nobody could separate us.”
Laureen thought she couldn’t have any more children, but on returning home from work one day she told her husband she was pregnant.
“Laureen spent days, weeks, months looking for a perfect name and the day our daughter was born she named her Nicole Lana Qualischefski,” he said.
“No words can explain how much she loved Nicole.”
As the years passed and Nicole started school at Murrumbeena Primary School.
Her father would take her to school, not far away from where they lived, sometimes doubling her on his push-bike.
“One day I said to Nicole ‘lets give school a big miss today’ and we caught the train to Melbourne Zoo,” Mr Qualischefski said.
“What a great day we had.”
Mr Qualischefski and his wife decided to return to Toowoomba.
Nicole attended Wilsonton Primary School and later Mt Lofty High School.
Nicole made two good friends – Jodie and Theresa – and the three spent a lot of time camping in the caravan in the backyard.
Laureen was always there for her daughter and when Nicole left school, she soon found a job at Woolworths.
Mr Qualischefski said when Nicole was born it gave his wife a new lease on life.
“I could not explain how happy she was, but I could see it in her eyes.”
He said Nicole and their son Johnny became very close.
When the family returned to Toowoomba in 1992 it had been 26 years since they’d seen their son.
“Laureen’s dad was still alive and would come and visit us. After the passing of Laureen’s father, Johnny did come (to visit) and it made Laureen so happy.”
Laureen died suddenly on August 21, 2017.