Olive O'Keeffe (14 May 1907 – 16 November 1988) was a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

who spent much of her life in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. She had close associations with

Clyde Fenton Clyde Cornwall Fenton OBE (16 May 1901 – 28 February 1982) was the Northern Territory's first flying doctor. Unlike the other doctors with the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, Fenton was also his own pilot. Fenton was a self-tau ...

with whom she worked with in

Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

and she also worked at

The Bungalow The Bungalow was an institution for Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal children established in 1914 in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. It existed at several locations in Alice Springs (then called Stuart), Jay Creek, North ...

and the Alice Springs Public Hospital in Central Australia for many years. Her former home in Katherine is heritage protected and known as the "O'Keeffe Residence".

Biography

O'Keeffe was born in

Montville, Queensland Montville is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Montville had a population of 1,092 people. Geography Montville is in the Sunshine Coast, ...

and wanted to be a nurse from a very young age and undertook her training for this at the

Brisbane General Hospital The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) is a tertiary public hospital located in Herston, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is operated by Metro North Health, part of the Queensland Health network. The hospital has 929 be ...

after which she also trained as a

midwife A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...

. After encouragement from a close friend, Sister Morrison, who has been working in the Northern Territory for many years, O'Keeffe moved to Darwin in 1936 (arriving 19 November on the ''Marella''

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

) where she worked at the

Darwin Hospital The Darwin Hospital was a former hospital that was located at Myilly Point in Larrakeyah, Northern Territory, Larrakeyah, an inner suburb of Darwin, Northern Territory in Australia. It was the second public hospital to be built in the city, repla ...

for a short time. Soon after this she travelled to Pine Creek, where she was the only nurse and where there were no doctors available. To assist her

, who was based in

, would fly in every Sunday to assist and when there were emergencies that she could not handle. Soon after that she moved again to

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek () is a town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the Northern Territory#Cities and towns, seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with ...

, where her friend Sister Morrison was also working but by 1938 she moved again and went to Katherine to work directly alongside Clyde Fenton. She said of this: Soon after arriving in Katherine O'Keeffe met her future husband John O'Keeffe, who ran a butchers shop in the town as well as working at a local hotel (the Sportsman's Arms Hotel). The pair married in September of 1938 and the reception was held at Clyde Fenton's house. After their marriage O'Keeffe resigned from nursing and the pair moved together to Birdum where they ran the local hotel which was owed by her husbands cousin

Timothy O'Shea Sir Timothy Michael Martin O'Shea (born 28 March 1949, Hamburg, Germany) is a British computer scientist and academic. He was the Master of Birkbeck, University of London from 1998 to 2002 and subsequently Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and after the

Bombing of Darwin The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Empire of Japan, Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the ...

, O'Keeffe was asked to assist in the medical evacuation of three pregnant Aboriginal women to

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

, one of which gave birth within 20 minutes of her arrival. O'Keeffe made the journey alongside her husband and, afterwards, they decided to remain there for approximately 20 years. In Alice Springs O'Keeffe and her husband worked as the superintendent and matron of

and O'Keeffe also acted as a nurse here until the early 1942 when it was officially closed. When The Bungalow closed it became an Aboriginal Reserve and the O'Keeffe's remained to assist people living there, the site was originally intended to only accommodate temporary visitors but soon became many peoples semi-permanent home. This caused issues for the O'Keefe's as the facilities were not sufficient and they lobbied the government to improve them. They remained there until 1949 when O'Keeffe took on running the 'Native Ward' at Alice Springs Hospital. This ward cared for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, mostly those from Central Australia, and could house up to 70 patients. O'Keeffe ran it for many years in, in doing so, earnt great respect from many of her patients. Reg Harris said of O'Keeffe at this time that she had a great rapport with Aboriginal people and that they had confidence in her; further he stated that: In the 1962 O'Keeffe and John decided to return to

and retire and there they purchased a home which is now known as 'The O'Keeffe Residence' which is now a National Trust property which operates as a museum. O'Keeffe was soon encouraged to be back at work to help address nursing staff shortages in the small town and worked again at Katherine Hospital until 1976 when she left to care for her husband who was unwell. When he recovered she returned to work for a short time, again encouraged by staff shortage, but soon had to leave when the authorities discovered her age. She died on 16 November 1988 in

Awards and honours

O'Keeffe received a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1965 for her contribution to nursing, particularly in relation to her care of Aboriginal people with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OKeeffe, Olive People from the Northern Territory Australian women nurses 1907 births 1988 deaths Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire