By TODD JIGARRU CONDIE

When Esther and Harry Grogan look back across more than 70 years together, their story carries the sweep of a life lived through hardship, work, family, faith and devotion – a love story shaped not by grand gestures, but by the steady promise of staying the distance.

The Mareeba couple, both 92, will mark 70 years of marriage surrounded by family at the International Club in Mareeba in far north Queensland next month, a celebration that will bring generations around two people whose lives have long been held together by resilience and care.

Their journey began far from Far North Queensland, in Sydney in the 1950s, when a young Dhunghutti/Anaiwan woman from Walcha and a young Western Yalanji/Takalak man born at Mona Mona Mission crossed paths on their way to work.

“Harry and Esther would pass each other going to and from work,” their son-in-law Steve Howlett said at the time when they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2016. (Steve passed away in 2021.)

“Esther worked at the PMU factory and Harry at Cheswick Timber Mill.”

They were later introduced by Esther’s cousin. From those brief passing moments grew a partnership that would carry them through seven decades.

Esther was born in Walcha, NSW, to police tracker Lester Kim and Lulu Kim (nee Wright). She grew up a hardworking young woman, helping her father, who was a self-taught mechanic, builder and rabbit trapper. In the mid-1950s she left Armidale for Sydney in search of work, joining many young Aboriginal people who moved between Country, family and city life in pursuit of opportunity.

Harry was born near Kuranda at Mona Mona Mission to Harry Grogan Senior and Rosie Grogan (nee Maytown). As a young man, he worked on cattle stations around the Chillagoe area before gaining an exemption card – a document that allowed him to travel more freely under the restrictive government controls placed on Aboriginal people at the time.

“Harry worked on cattle stations around the Chillagoe area before gaining an exemption card, like a passport enabling him to travel freely without authorisation from the mission,” Steve said. “He moved to Sydney in 1955 to commence a boxing career with his brother, Clarence Grogan.”

In the ring, Harry made his name. A strong southpaw, he fought professionally through the 1950s and became Australian welterweight champion.

But while boxing took him into stadiums and newspaper pages, it was Esther who became the centre of his life. The couple married on August 4, 1956 at Armidale Presbyterian Church. Soon after, they moved north when Harry joined the Jimmy Sharman Boxing Troupe, beginning a new chapter that would bind them to Queensland and to community.

“Once in north Queensland, Harry worked on the railway, did horse and cattle work, and timber cutting, while Esther raised three children – Wayne, Cyril and Sharon – in between working seasonal jobs on tobacco farms,” Steve said.

It was a life built by hand: long days, hard work, children to raise, family to feed and visitors always welcome. Their home became known as an open house for family and friends – a place where kinship was practised in everyday ways, around meals, cards, conversation and care.

That care became the defining act of Esther’s life when their second child, Cyril, had a seizure at the age of 13. He became completely dependent on his parents, losing the ability to walk, talk or communicate. Esther cared for Cyril for the rest of his life (Cyril passed away 9 years ago at age 60). It was a devotion almost beyond measure – the quiet, daily labour of love that rarely makes headlines but holds families together.

In 2008, Esther was recognised with the Continence Carer of the Year Award for looking after Cyril for 47 years. The Continence Foundation of Australia praised her as “a worthy representative of the many thousands of Australians who daily devote themselves to making the lives of their cared loved ones as good as they can possibly be”.

For Harry, who had once fought beneath bright lights, and Esther, whose strength was shown in the private work of caring, the years have brought a different kind of victory: the sight of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren gathering around them. They had three children, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Both were devoted NRL fans, with Harry a lifelong Broncos fan, until the far north of Queensland had their own team, when the Cowboys entered the NRL.

Their lives together have been marked by the practical humour, endurance and generosity familiar to many Aboriginal families who have carried one another through difficult histories and changing times.

Their son, Wayne, said the couple had been an inspiration for him and his entire family.

“Mum and Dad gave all of us kids our morals, principles, respect and value for hard work,” Wayne said. “They have been our shining light throughout our lives.”

Wayne said many family and friends had described the marriage as ‘legendary’. After 70 years of marriage, Esther and Harry’s love story is not only about romance. It is about survival. It is about two young people who met while walking to work, then walked together through mission history, migration, boxing tents, railway work, tobacco farms, parenthood, illness, grief and joy.

It is about an open door, a full table and a promise kept.

Esther and Harry Grogan stand as living proof that love can be more than a feeling. It can be a lifetime of showing up.