Kae MacNeil
“Kae was better than a doctor.”
– Tommy Smith, Kae’s fellow volunteer at the First Aid Station
Kae MacNeil met her husband Charlie when he came down with an ulcerated throat while she was working as a nurse. Initially, she didn’t intend to remain on Bowen. She moved to the island in 1946 to take care of her mother, who had delivered Bowen’s papers for years, and Charlie joined her when it became clear that she was staying.
On Bowen, Kae became one of the island’s much-loved volunteer nurses alongside Ellen Dorman. Between nursing and leading the local Girl Guides, islanders were never short of reasons to thank Kae for her hard work.
