Quality Aged Care in Waratah, Newcastle NSW - Nursing Home and Retirement Living

Jennifer started her Beauty therapy apprenticeship in 2007 and has since expanded her qualifications during her 18-year journey.

After moving to Newcastle in 2022, and on her way to dinner with her husband, Jen recognised a reported missing man with dementia, that had wandered from his home at Maroba. After a quick conversation, Jen gave the gentleman a lift back home where she met (now former) CEO Viv Allanson and got a glimpse of the warm and welcoming community which was Maroba. It was that brief but impactful moment that Jennifer decided and determined; she wanted to work at Maroba.

At the time, Jennifer was pregnant with her second son so a few months after he was born, Jen reached out to the team explaining she was not yet qualified in aged care but had always dreamed of the opportunity to work in such a rewarding industry.

Starting off as Care Support, Jen joined the Maroba Holistic Care team permanently in January of this year and works alongside Michelle as a Beauty Therapist.

This dream team provides services in facials, spa baths, massages, nails and waxing for residents, family and visitors to enjoy.

Jennifer emphasised how much joy the services bring to the residents and how much joy it brings her to be able to care, comfort and connect with the residents.

When asked what she loves most about working at Maroba Jennifer said, “It doesn’t feel like ‘work’. Even little things like listening to residents reminisce truly brightens my day, I will be working at Maroba until I need a room myself”.

Jen combines her passion for Aged Care and Beauty therapy to enhance the confidence, quality of life and dignity of Maroba’s residents and family.

Maroba warmly welcomed Michelle 17 years ago when she joined the team as an Assistant in Nursing (AIN) after previously working in aged care on the Central Coast. Wanting a change from aged care and the desire to expand her skills, Michelle earned a Diploma in Beauty Therapy. As Michelle’s new direction in the beauty industry began, she began to realise how much she missed her Maroba family and how warm and joyful it was to work with residents and staff.

This is when (now former) CEO Viv Allanson, saw the perfect opportunity for Michelle to start a beauty salon at Maroba. Michelle immediately embraced the idea with excitement and open arms at the chance to combine her passion for aged care and beauty therapy.

When asked what makes Maroba so special to her Michelle shared, “My favourite part of Maroba is the people – it’s a nice environment and everyone is so friendly. Kindness is passed from one person to another and just spreads across Maroba.”

Michelle is part of the heart that makes Maroba special to our residents, staff and community. She brings dignity, joy and comfort to residents, making sure each person feels confident. Michelle emphasised these one-on-one services are a way for residents to wind down, relax and chat about anything on their mind.

Residents can have treatments in their suburbs or rooms for further comfort or have an appointment booked in the salon to feel more independent. It is also a relaxing way for new residents to be welcomed to Maroba and settle in seamlessly.

With permission from family and carers, Michelle finds that a soothing massage or a mindful manicure makes residents in our Memory Care unit more relaxed and comfortable.
Michelle’s passion, love and care for the people around her makes everything she does at Maroba exceptional.

Interested in finding out more about Maroba’s beauty services including this year’s Christmas Spa Packages? See the team at reception or click the link here.

Jack Lawson has lived in Newcastle his whole life but he’s no stranger to love, friendship and adventure.

Born in 1923 and currently the oldest person at Maroba, Jack grew up in Hamiliton, Newcastle with his parents and brother. Jack remembers walking around town and making his own fun with friends and his brother including going on biking adventures to Raymond Terrace.

Jack was confirmed as Anglican at 13 years old at St Peter’s Anglican Church in Hamilton. Devoted to his faith, Jack would regularly attend Sunday School. Sharing the same friends and attending the same church, Jack met Dorothy, fell in love, and in 1947 they got married at the Tutor Street Presbyterian Church. Shortly after they had three beautiful sons who were baptised at the same place.

Jack worked a few jobs including paper runs and a grocer at the Newcastle-famous Lindstrom Bros grocery store. In this role Jack would collect food orders from customers houses, return to the store to collect their shopping list and then deliver it to the customers’ house. You could say was the original food delivery service unless you consider the cart and horse drawn milk and bread drop-off that Jack remembers seeing.

Eventually Jack would find his calling as a fitter where he would construct and keep industrial machinery operating. In 1939, Jack started working at BHP just as WWII began. BHP played a crucial role in the production of steel and machinery for the war. Jack left BHP in 1945 and began working at Cardiff Locomotive Workshops (now known as the Cardiff Maintenance Centre). He then worked at the Broadmeadow Railway Locomotive Depot where Jack performed repairs on steam trains as diesel trains were not in service yet.

In 1982, Jack retired from work and always being a bit of a handyman, learned woodturning. With practice, Jack developed his woodturning craft incredibly and even donated some of his timberworks to various charities including Meals on Wheels. Now Jack designs beautiful and thoughtful cards on his computer, prints them and gives them out to family and friends.

Adventurous and in love, Jack and Dorothy travelled all over the world including to Hong Kong and Europe and in 1995 they spent a month travelling across Canada.

In 1997, Jack and Dorothy took a trip to visit Dorothy’s cousin in Cairns and on that trip, they spontaneously decided to drive to Darwin! This idea started a 7-month long road trip around Australia, amounting to 24,000 kilometres.
During this time, Dorothy sadly developed more prominent symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease, however Jack remembers her joy seeing gardens and native wildflowers. Needing some professional care and support but still wanting to live independently, Jack and Dorothy moved to Maroba’s self-care units in 2000.

Jack said, “I’ve been very happy we made the decision to come to Maroba because we’ve been given a lot of help.”

After living for in the units for 3 years, it was decided Dorothy required more support and was moved to the Memory Support Suburb where she sadly passed away in 2006. Jack continued to live in the units until moving to the Lodge in November 2024.

Jack and Dorothy would often go on holidays with another couple, Valda and Bill McKim, and they formed deep friendships with each other. After the passing of Dorothy and 5 months later the passing of Bill, Jack and Valda became very close friends, created a strong bond and supported each other’s grief. Jack and Valda would often spend time together and go on holidays including to China in 1977 and cruises. After 17 years of this close bond of friendship, Valda sadly passed away at 102 in July 2024.

Today, Jack is eagerly involved in Maroba’s activities. You’ll often see Jack testing his mind at bingo or trivia. He maintains his health and fitness by attending Tai Chi, movement groups and the Maroba gym, supported by the enthusiastic Allied Health Team. Jack’s friends would also regularly pick him up to exercise in the pool and socialise at Mayfield Wests. He only finished up pool exercises last year at age 101 saying he started “floating like a brick.”

Jack says he feels he gets along with a lot of people at Maroba and is happy with the support provided stating “I’ve enjoyed the Maroba life,” and “they were very good to Dorothy when she was getting worse.”

In his free time (if there is any in his busy Maroba schedule) Jack reads on his kindle, keeps up to date with the news and finds out information on his computer which he also uses to keep in touch with his family.

Even at the age of 102 Jack still finds a way to make life an adventure.