Birthday celebrations for 98-year-old Gloria Reading

Family travelled from Hong Kong, Sydney, Orange, Sawtell, Toobeah, Toowoomba, Merah North and Gunnedah to celebrate 98 wonderful years with Gloria Reading on Saturday August 23, 2025.

Gloria started life as an only child of Lena and Herbert Barnes and very little chance of seeing her first birthday to now having more than 50 people who see her as their much-loved matriarch.

Gloria was born with a twisted bowel and at six weeks old had to go to Sydney for an operation. When she got to Sydney the doctor said he wouldn’t operate as he didn’t think that she would survive the operation, so her parents brought her home to Gunnedah. When she got home her parents took her back to Dr Anderson and he performed the operation himself. It was the first time that he had done the operation but if he hadn’t then she would not have survived. Gloria says her father had to carry her around on a pillow for weeks until she recovered.

Growing up Gloria remembers going to Quirindi frequently to see her paternal grandparents.

Friday nights were spent around the piano with friends. Her mum singing and playing. Gloria says that her mum had a beautiful voice.

Gloria has shared many wonderful stories with family and friends saying, “Miss Killen was my favourite kindergarten teacher, and I loved school.”

After school she went to the convent and learnt shorthand and typing. She left school and worked for the town clerk. After the fourth year she was asked to edit a book about toilets for the health inspector. Due to the hot weather in Gunnedah and no air-conditioning, they went up into the bell tower in the town hall to work as it was much cooler.

Gloria remembers that her mum was a fabulous cook and always had cakes and lamingtons on offer. She says, “I always wanted to go to my friends place because she had store bought cakes and she wanted to come to my place because I had homemade cakes.”

Gloria tells the story that one day she had a convulsion (as she had a high temperature). She said, Betty sang out to my mum to come quick because I had a convulsion, and I was squashing the lamingtons. Gloria said, “she wasn’t worried about me, she was worried I was squashing the lamingtons”.

Gloria met her husband while scoring for the Albion cricket club. George Reading was playing for the Albion club. They were married April 4, 1948.

After they were married, they moved onto a property, ‘Argyle’ in the Ghooli / Ghoolendaadi (soldier settlement blocks). Gloria says she was lucky as she had electricity and a phone and many of her neighbours didn’t so they would come over to use hers.

Gloria and George had four children. John, Bronwyn, Kerry and Christopher.

Her husband George had a beautiful singing voice but didn’t like to sing in public. Gloria said if they were going out, he would say ‘tonight I am not singing’, but after a couple of beers he would sing and our friends knew that and when they wanted him to sing, they would make sure that he had a couple of beers. Our friends always asked him to sing ‘Cathedral in the Pond’, and ‘Danny Boy’. The ladies all liked to hear him sing, especially at the Christmas carols.

A lot of people in Gunnedah remember Gloria from the small general store in Conadilly Street, where she and her husband ran the shop for about 17 years until retiring in 1984.

After George died in 1991, Gloria became very involved with volunteering in Gunnedah.

Gloria helped many families with budget counselling both in Gunnedah and over the northwest while volunteering for St Vinnies.

While Gloria is very humble her community service has been recognised and appreciated. She was Gunnedah Citizen of the Year in 2012 and received an NSW Individual Premier’s Award, Volunteer of the Year Award in Gunnedah and a Papal Blessing from Pope Francis.

Gloria has become a much-loved resident of Boggabri MPS since breaking her hip in 2018. These days she enjoys her family and friends visiting, reading, playing Aussie Bingo, attending activities such as musical events and special occasions.

Many more stories were shared on Saturday when Gloria’s four children and their families gathered at the Boggabri MPS to celebrate 98 wonderful years with Gloria.