The band played in royal style for Marion Close who wore a crown at the Little Ships Club at Dunwich on February 26 to celebrate her 100th birthday.
Now living in a nursing home at Morningside, Ms Close has links to North Stradbroke Island, Beaudesert and Fingal and her life and those memories were marked at her centenary celebration.
Born Marion Currie in Fingal, Ms Currie attended the Aboriginal Inland Mission church and there learned to play many musical instruments. The family survived using bush skills and eating traditional foods from the sea, river and land at Fingal.
Ms Currie moved to Beaudesert working as a domestic for Bromelton House, then owned by Hugh Henry Aikman who held the first squatting license for the property in 1842. There she met ringbarker Sonny Close and the two married.
They moved to Dunwich where Mr Close worked on the mine and as a fisherman and Ms Close as a seamstress. She was well known for her tomato relish and dugong oil
She was involved in the Quandamooka Lands Council, the One Mile Aboriginal Corporation in the 1980s and one of the original elders in the Lands Council on the island. Mr and Mrs Close played a significant role in monitoring activities affecting water quality and flora and fauna along the creek.
She is described as a person who knew how to "chop wood, boil clothes and live by the light of a tilly light and a kerosene lantern". She is also a keen scrabble player and enjoyed a day out at the races.
The couple had six children and moved to Wynnum when the oldest were ready for high school. Ms Close returned to Dunwich in the 1990s, following the death of her husband in 1975. There she was regarded as a respected elder of the community.
Ms Close was a fan of the Broncos with her nephew Tony Currie a former player. Many family members have played for various clubs including her great grandchildren for the Stradbroke Sharks at Dunwich. One of her 100th birthday party guests was Bronco's player Steve Renouf.
Son Lionel described his mother as having a great sense of humour.
"She lives for her family and she knows the bible inside out. She is very talented," he said.
Lionel said she was delighted to receive letters from the Queen and the prime minister to mark her century.
