- Myra Blanch
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Myra Rose Blanch was the fourth child of Hector and Elizabeth Blanch. Myra trained as a nurse at the Nambour District Hospital and at Epworth Hospital in Melbourne. After working for a while in Victorian Hospitals she became, in 1940, Sister in Charge at the Australian Inland Mission Hospital at Innamincka, South Australia. In 1942 she joined the Australian Army Nursing Service with the rank of Lieutenant, serving in varying places including a six month period at Torokina in the Solomon Islands.
On her return to Australia in 1945 she joined the Royal Flying Doctor Service based at Broken Hill remaining there for ten years.
Myra later served as Deputy Matron at Tamworth Base Hospital and as Matron at Guyra District Hospital and at Quirindi General Hospitals. In 1960 she transferred to Wollongong Hospital as Matron and Superintendent of nursing as in 1966 she moved to St. Andrew's Toowoomba Hospital where she was involved with the commissioning of the hospital.
Throughout her career Myra Blanch was active in many professional organizations; R.A.N.F. and the Queensland Nurses' Association. She was also active in the Service Club, Quota International, Wollongong and Toowoomba. She was a Fellow of the N.S.W. College of Nursing, and was, until her retirement in 1979, an Associate Fellow of the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education, now the University of Southern Queensland. She served three years on the Board of Governors of St. Andrew's Toowoomba Hospital and was a Justice of the Peace for Queensland. In her retirement Myra was still active in Quota International, and like her sister, Eileen, maintained an interest in the mentally handicapped through her involvement with "Crossroads".
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