Tess Fry from the Vale street units was born in Ballarat in 1921. She was the youngest of 3, her brothers Tom and Harry where in their twenties when Tess was born. Nonetheless Tess had a happy childhood with plenty of friends and a good collection of toys to play with. Tess and her parents lived in Darling street Redan. She started school at the Redan State School in 1927. At the completion of state school Tess went to the girls school for two years. At 15 Tess left school and went to work at the Lucas factory for 3 years. She was not keen on the work as it was mostly hemming garments. Tess found work with a bank managers wife assisting with entertainment and the running of the house till the effects of the great depression caused the bank manager to make Tess redundant. She found work at a guest house but her mother took Tess out from there as Tess was being unfairly treated.World War II was underway and Tess’s farther had just died. Her mother died in 1964. On a whim Tess approached Craigs Royal Hotel on Lydiard street for work and was successful. They were long work days, she started a 7:30am and did not finish till 9pm or later. She was just 21 years old. She worked there for 42 years until her retirement aged 65 years. Tess never married and lived at Craigs until her retirement. She lived upstairs beside the Centrelink Offices for 20 years after retirement before moving here to the Vale street units. She is a long time member of Senior Citizens Club and loves the activities they undertake. Tess enjoys living here at the units with the bus at her door.
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