Oliva Baldo
| Town/City | Warners Bay 2282 |
|---|---|
| First name | Oliva |
| Last name | Baldo |
| Country of Origin | Italy |
| Date of Birth | 6th May 1903 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1934 |
| Submitted by | John Marin |
Story
Oliva Baldo was born in Cavaso, Italy on the 6th May 1903. During her early years she worked in a chocolate factory in Switzerland and then a silk factory in the north of Italy.
She married Alberto Marin by proxy on the 14th October 1933, arriving in Sydney by the “SS Remo” on the 4th January 1934. She joined her husband on a farm at Fernside just west of Lismore.
Her first purchase was a cow and from the milk she made butter and cheese for her husband and two daughters, Elmie and Ada.
From 1943, the family moved to Rosebank to a banana farm where her son, John, was born the following year.
Oliva was a competent seamstress who made all her family’s clothes. She was excellent at knitting and crochet. She excelled at cooking simple but nutritious meals on her wood stove. Her vegetable garden was the envy of many.
Oliva was an avid reader of novels. She learnt to speak English by listening to the battery operated radio.
After her husband, Alberto, suffered a stroke, she moved to Yenda to live near her daughter, Elmie, where she lived until she died peacefully on the 14th March 1979 aged 75 years.