Born in 1928, Laura Neal (nee Brown) had an unparalleled zest for life

Born in 1928, Laura Neal (nee Brown) had an unparalleled zest for life. She took inspiration from her creative, enterprising Aunts, one of whom designed and built Beverley Towers (corner Darley Rd and Victoria Pde, Manly) in the 1930s, and another who owned a dress design business. Her mother helped run the family garage below Beverley Towers at street level.

Laura loved school and relished the ferry trips in the 1940s to Fort St. High School for Girls, Pymble Ladies College, and eventually Sydney University. In 1951, Laura backpacked alone through South Arica and up through Egypt to India.

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Shortly after returning to Australia, Laura was invited by Sir William Hudson to join the public relations department of the newly-formed Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Authority - the first female to join the team. Fighting old superstitions that it was bad luck to allow women into the tunnels, Laura donned hard hart, wellingtons, and raincoat to visit the sites of future dams and tunnels to interview and photograph the workers. She also provided radio dispatches for the ABC, trekking to the local phone booth in the small mountain town of Khancoban to submit reports.

She was firmly planted in the Cooma area for almost 40 years, during which time she married a young engineer, Rod Neal, and had 5 children. But her life and interests always took her beyond a traditional family role. She taught English at the local TAFE, worked with the Cooma Community Contact Group recording oral histories, and authored numerous publications, including Cooma Country. She traveled with friends to Berlin to attend Oberammagau at the same time as the unfolding events around the fall of the Berlin Wall. Later she traveled with friends to Nepal where she once again donned solid walking boots to trek along the paths of the Himalayas.

Despite her connections to the Snowy Mountains, the draw of her hometown was strong. In the early 1990s she returned to the Manly area where she remained for the next 30 years, continuing to teach English as a Second Language at local TAFEs along the Northern Beaches.

Laura passed away on Saturday, January 29, after a short illness. The memories of her optimistic outlook and zest for adventure, along with her love for Manly, will live forever in the hearts of those who knew her.

A funeral service will be held at St. Matthews on the Corso, 1 Darley Rd, Manly, 1pm, February 24, 2022.

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