End of era for the Anderson family

An end of era has come for the Anderson family, as its small cleaning business has finished work at St Mary’s College after 53 years.

Robert (known as Bob) Anderson started Gunnedah Business Cleaning and Property Services in 1971 to combat work scarcity.

“Work was very hard to get that year,” Shirley, Bob’s wife, said.

He had asked a Conadilly shop owner if he could clean the store’s windows. From there, word of mouth meant that one window turned to two and before long he was in business.

The first agreement the business had was with St Mary’s College, starting work there in 1971.

 The late Bob Anderson who started Gunnedah Business Cleaning and Property Services in 1971. One of the first business agreements was with St Mary’s College, Gunnedah.

Bob did the labour while Shirley kept up with the bookwork.

“[Bob] liked it because he was mixing with people,” she said.

“He never did [a job] rough. If he felt he couldn’t do it, he didn’t do it.”

It was always an early rise for Bob, waking at early hours to get the job done.

Bob and Shirley’s son David started helping in the business at about

the age of 12 and took over the business almost 30 years later in the year 2000.

It has now been six years in August since Bob passed.

David has struggled to find staff, just like many business owners in the area, which is the main reason behind cutting back on the workload.

David made the difficult decision to stop work at St Mary’s College.

“I give David credit for keeping [the business] going for as long as he has,” Shirley said.

There is a silver lining as Dave sees it as an opportunity to spend more quality time with his daughter, Neave.

While he gained many memories while working at the school, he remembered largely that Sister Gemma was a “character.”

He recalled Sr Gemma handing him a key to the old O’Driscoll building after the previous one was lost.

More distinctly, he remembers her tone when saying, “David, don’t ever lose that key. You have the last remaining key for the old building.”

Luckily he never did, and it was returned upon his retirement at the school.

Memories of Sr Gemma can date back further than David’s

involvement, with Shirley recalling that Bob and Sr Gemma often had disagreements but ended each day with a handshake and a resolution.

St Mary’s College principal Cath Martin wished David the best for “semi-retirement”.

“Fifty-three years, thank you for the

loyalty and exceptional work and being a part of the history of St Mary’s,” she said.

Dave returned the gesture and gave thanks to the school.

“Thank you St Mary’s College and the Sisters of Mercy for a wonderful 53 years. I wish them the best,” he said.

David and Shirley Anderson returning the key to the O’Driscoll building – part of the old school grounds – to St Mary’s College principal Cath Martin. They are pictured in front of Sr Gemma’s old office.

The old school key which Sr Gemma gave Dave strict instructions not to lose as it was only one remaining.