Helen Biss remembers fondly growing up on a sheep farm on the Maniototo, running around with her brother and sister, without a care in the world.
“What I remember as a kid was roaring around with bare feet that became very tough from running on very dry and hard grass. There were sharp bits of straw which hardened your feet!”
“We had pet lambs, dogs and horses, and we helped with the feeding out of the sheep. Dad was very safety conscious so whatever we did on the farm it was always done safely.”
“I can remember Mum, she wasn’t a country girl, she was a nurse. When she met Dad she became a farmer’s wife. She had a coal range which she wasn’t used to, so had to bury a lot of baking because it didn’t turn out so well!”
Helen went to the local Ranfurly primary school and then went to Columba College in Dunedin as a boarder.
After finishing high school, Helen returned to the farm for a year before moving back to Dunedin and followed in her mother’s footsteps by training as a nurse. It was while she was living in Dunedin that she met her future husband, Martin (Marty) Biss, who was a lamb drafter for PPCS (eventually becoming Silver Fern Farms).
“Marty, originally from the Hawke’s Bay, and I raised three children – Simon, Susan and David – in Dunedin.”
Helen suffered a medical emergency at a relatively young age, but because of her determination, she worked hard at her rehabilitation, including physical and speech therapy, and swimming in the Dunedin Physio Pool.
Many years later, and without realising, the offer to use Helen’s sister’s timeshare in Alexandra was the beginning of a new life for Helen and Marty.
Spending two weeks in Alexandra on holiday in the timeshare was meant to be. Helen says, “Marty and I had been talking about moving away out of Dunedin once Marty retired and I knew that Alexandra was where I want to be. I felt an immediate connection to the town and discovered Marty was thinking the same thing so when he retired, we moved permanently to Alexandra.”
To help her get established in the new community, Helen learned to play croquet which helped her meet people at the local Alexandra croquet club.
Helen is grandmother to Angus, Kiel, Loulou, Harry, Keaton and Jackson and was married to Marty for over 60 years.
The couple moved into a Ranui Cottage, something they both enjoyed. Marty has since passed away, and Helen now lives in Ranui where she is an active resident, taking part in various activities and currently enjoying knitting a scarf, using scraps of wool. She also declares she is a “mad” reader! Back in the day Helen was also a keen sewer, making herself a dress every year for Christmas.