Cathy & James (Jim) Mullan.

Cathy and James (Jim) Mullan (St Marys) celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary on Monday 19th February, with a small party for residents at Newmarch House.

Cathy (from Greenock, Scotland) and Jim (Coleraine, Northern Ireland) came to Australia from Southampton, UK at ages19 and 21 respectively, and initially lived in Wollongong.

Jim is the eldest of 13 children (8 girls, 5 boys) and when he and Cathy arrived by ship in Woolloomooloo, 11 of his siblings were on hand to welcome them to Australia, having emigrated several months earlier.

Jim began his working life in the Steelworks, moving into the computer section, before later joining CIG. He joined the RAAF at age 30, and would remain a member for the next 30 years, before retiring as Wing Commander.

Cathy and Jim were posted to Point Cook, Laverton, Canberra, Malaysia, Canberra, San Antonio, Canberra, Lapstone and Richmond – the latter where Jim would subsequently retire from the RAAF.

Cathy worked in Childcare, Homecare, John James Hospital and Telecom (now Telstra), before moving into the pharmacy retail area, where her final position was managing the Shoe Department.

Cathy and James have 4 children (James, Martin, Jacqueline, Adrian), 6 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild.

“I loved the postings with the RAAF, as we travelled and lived in so many wonderful places. It was also a very good social life with
other families of servicemen and women,” said Cathy.