Founder. Leader. Mentor. Pioneer. Friend.
They are all words that have been used to describe Patricia Broad and the immeasurable impact she had on young women in Dunedin through teaching, swimming, lifesaving and gymnastics.
But had it not been for a surprise knock on the door one day, she may never have left the legacy she did.
After finishing her diploma in physical education, Mrs Broad — known as Pat or Tricia — began teaching at Otago Girls’ in the 1950s, a job she loved just as much as the school loved her.
But she required a teaching certificate to continue and, back then, Teachers College did not accept married women.
Despite putting up a fight, writing letters and support from Otago Girls’, Mrs Broad was given a firm no and that appeared to be the end of the road for her education career.
But just before the first term of the next year was to begin, there was a knock on the door from the St Philomena’s College nuns offering Mrs Broad a job teaching physical education.
"That was basically her saving grace," Mrs Broad’s son, Tony, said.
"Catholic schools didn’t run by the same rules then."
As one door closed, another opened, leading to a life dedicated to teaching, her family and her community.
Mrs Broad (nee Thomas) was born in Dargaville on February 7, 1931, to Arthur Thomas and Muriel Moor and had an older sister, Jean.
They grew up on the family farm in Aranga, Northland, before moving to Te Atatū Peninsula. She went to school locally and then Auckland Girls’ Grammar School, where she was involved in a range of sports including swimming, lifesaving, tennis, cricket, hockey, basketball and drill, for which she received a silver shield.
She also enjoyed singing, performed in the school choir, coached junior teams and was a prefect and acting school games captain in her final term.
After school, Mrs Broad moved to Dunedin to study and was in the second intake of the School of Physical Education at the University of Otago.
During her second year she met her future husband, the late Michael Broad, who was studying metallurgy.
They were married in January 1952 at Pitt St Methodist Church in Auckland before returning to Dunedin.
Mrs Broad then started her career as a physical education teacher and coach, helping young women, and men later on, learn gymnastics, lifesaving and swimming, and had a profound impact on her pupils, many of whom shared their memories with Mrs Broad’s family recently.
"They saw Mum as someone that was really inspiring," Tony said.
"To see a woman doing what she did, and teaching them, and bringing them on, and encouraging them in these things — they just loved it. She was a role model for those young women in the ’50s.
"The same goes right through her long association with the St Bernadette’s [Gymnastics] Club — that’s what she continued doing."
Mrs Broad founded the St Bernadette’s Gymnastics Club in 1964, alongside her friend and pupil from St Philomena’s, Noeline Munro (nee Bleach), inspired after seeing a performance in Dunedin by the Gymnos Gymnastics Club from Auckland.
Keen to share her knowledge, Mrs Broad quickly affiliated the club with the Otago Gymnastics Association, and served on the OGA committee for many years, including terms as president and secretary.
She became involved in the New Zealand Gymnastics Association, now known as Gymnastics New Zealand, contributing to the national technical committees, and developing the sport, coaching and judges.
St Bernadette’s continued to prosper.
In 1970 the club’s first gymnast represented Otago nationally, and from 1981, the club has regularly had gymnasts feature among Otago titles and represent the region.
In 1981, Mrs Broad was chief recorder at the New Zealand Games International Gymnastics Competition — described as the greatest gymnastics competition ever to be held in New Zealand — and judged at the Commonwealth Games in 1991 and the Pacific Alliance Gymnastics Championships in 1994.
She spent countless hours running the club and helping her athletes hone their craft and in 2006, then aged 75, she became the oldest person in the world at the time to pass the international judges’ exam.
But it was always the grassroots that mattered most, encouraging children to set goals, and seeing them achieve them, a passion she used through the gymnastic incentive awards scheme.
Contrasting from competitive gymnastics, the incentive awards encouraged personal development against standards.
Mrs Broad introduced the national scheme to St Philomena’s in 1960, and her star pupil, Josephine Dolan, was the first gymnast in the Dunedin area to receive the silver bar.
For decades, Mrs Broad worked meticulously as incentive award secretary, tracking the development of young gymnasts throughout the Otago education system.
"She encouraged children to compete if they wanted to," Tony said.
"But ... she’d rather they just had fun, pushed themselves, and had a goal to aim for, rather than the tensions of going to competitions."
The club recently unveiled a memorial to Mrs Broad’s service, including her navy judge’s blazer, adorned with her various badges and awards, at the club’s King Edward Court gymnasium. Under her photograph are the words that mattered most — "mentor and friend".
In August, Gymnastics New Zealand posthumously awarded Mrs Broad the title of judging legend.
While gymnastics was a big part of her life, lifesaving and swimming played just as big a role in the early days.
She was keen on lifesaving while at school, continued to train herself and coached while at St Philomena’s, teaching hundreds of young woman resuscitation and other skills, passing on her knowledge for the senior pupils to teach the juniors.
In 1966, St Philomena’s had the highest number of lifesaving awards of all the Catholic schools in New Zealand and was close to the top among all schools. That year, she received the Royal Life Saving Society Service Medal.
Mrs Broad also taught pupils across various schools in Dunedin how to swim for years, another one of her passions.
"In all these areas, her focus was encouraging children to believe in themselves, gain skills, then have the confidence to instruct others to do it," Tony said.
"Passing that on to the next generation and beyond was part and parcel of what she wanted to do."
The value in her teaching was exemplified when one of Mrs Broad’s pupils was one of three children who rescued two women from a boat accident in Purakaunui. For her bravery and selflessness, Jocelyn O'Kane was awarded the Royal Humane Society of NZ Bronze Medal.
But Mrs Broad’s life was also about balance and her family was a big part of that.
Described as a caring, thoughtful, generous and humble person, Mrs Broad and her husband had six children.
"That was an amazing commitment, rarely seen today, and a blessing that I must thank both my parents for," Tony said.
"Having now spoken to many more of the people my mother shared her life with, and contributed to the lives of, I am in awe of her energy, organisation, discipline, perseverance and compassion."
She dedicated her life to supporting, and recognising others, and liked to make sure others were never left out.
She was recognised for those efforts, being awarded a Kiwibank Local Hero Award in 2014 and, 30 years after receiving a Queen’s Service Medal, she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2021.
Mrs Broad died peacefully at Dunedin Hospital on July 23, aged 92.
She is survived by her children Terry, Tony, Kelvin, Kim, Suzanne and Nicola, grandchildren Andrea, Emma, Troy, Olivia, Jessica and Michael, and great-grandchildren Neo and Amiria.
