Meet our member: Maria Armstrong
Maria Armstrong, 86 years young, is just one of many proud RT Health members.
She joined RT Health back in 1948 when her late husband, Arthur Albert Armstrong, worked on the railways.
Now, in 2023, she’s celebrating being a member for 75 years. A proud milestone.
Railway life
Maria recalls that Arthur was just 16 years old when he joined the railway.
“They used to call him a call-boy,” she says.
“That’s a young bloke who used to go and wake the drivers up and tell them it was time to go to work."
From those modest beginnings, Arthur progressed to work on the steam trains in Lithgow, becoming the youngest train driver in the region and across greater NSW.
After a decade, he moved to Eveleigh, where he drove firstly diesel and then electric trains.
And those early railway years were the impetus for the young driver to join RT Health.
“When you start working with the railway, you had to join the medical fund and the hospital fund, that's how he become to be with RT Health. And we've been with you ever since he was 16,” says Maria.
Maria & Arthur
Maria and Arthur’s story is a sweet one.
Maria attended technical college in Meadowbank. There, she became friends with a friendly cleaning lady (who loved rhubarb).
Maria’s father had a farm in Midway (near Ryde) and grew lots of vegetables. Her new friend was intrigued and asked if she could visit, so she could see the rhubarb growing.
Maria fondly recalls:
“She came over with this young chap called Peter, which wasn't his real name.”
It turned out that Peter was Arthur, who was using a moniker because his grandmother disliked the name his parents had given him!
“His grandmother hated the name Arthur. So, she nicknamed everyone in the family. No one had their right name.”
So, they spent some time walking around the farm and picking out some rhubarb before Arthur plucked up the courage to ask Maria to join them for a drive that afternoon.
And so started a romance and a happy marriage.
Maria and Arthur went on to have five children: three sons and two daughters.
Maria now also has 16 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren (and one on the way).
She giggles with delight when she talks about there being “too many at Christmas” and “nearly every month there is a birthday.”
From the farm to the railways
Maria is grateful for the many opportunities provided by Arthur’s work on the railways.
The couple made the most of moves to Ryde, Berowra, Brisbane, Lithgow and then back again to Ryde after Arthur received a promotion to work as part of intelligence and investigation in Pitt Street. He was happy there for almost 20 years.
Maria’s artistic interests and talents saw her build a varied work life, enjoying many years as a dressmaker, cleaner, photographer and cake decorator.
“When we lived in Lithgow, I used to work as a dressmaker and I used to do the clothes up there and drive them back to Sydney every week,” she remembers with fondness.
Staying active and healthy
Maria loves her active and healthy lifestyle, and keeps busy playing bowls, cross stitching and doing a bit of gardening.
“I enjoy what I have done. And I think bowls is the last exercise and a bit of gardening is the last bit of my life. And I enjoy when the great-grandkids and grandkids come around and say hello,” she says.
A proud RT Health member
Maria has been a proud member of RT Health since 1948.
For her, having health cover has helped make sure she’s able to cover any medical bills.
“If you want to go to see a specialist, then if you got to have an operation, it's there to help you pay it. And you get it done straight away. You don't have to wait two, three years to get the operation,” she says.
An advocate for private health cover, Maria says she knows friends who didn’t have it and have sadly passed away while waiting for medical procedures.
“It’s sad. I mean, you're struggling when you're young to pay. Still when you're old, you still struggle. You complain how much it costs and everything like that. But you just got to save.”
"It's always been there when I needed it,” says Maria.
