BETTY Sara, the mother of Australia’s first surviving quadruplets, would have celebrated her 102 birthday on Thursday 19 January 2023.

With this, the first birthday missed by their mum, who died on 27 December last year, the family gathered on the day and made sure Betty’s life was celebrated with happiness, fun and loads of heart-warming memories.

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The memorial party for family and friends was at The Link café venue in the grounds of Marian Grove, Coffs Harbour where Betty lived until she moved into Mater Christi five years ago.

A resourceful and organised woman, Betty wrote her own eulogy when she was 88 and for over a decade it’s been kept safe.

In this document she reminisces about her very young days in London, learning the piano and then having dancing lessons.

Both talents she has shared through her life at local events on the Coffs Coast in earlier days.

She tells of meeting an Australian, Percy Hart Sara in London, the pair falling in love and marrying on 4 July 1945, who she joined on the other side of the world in 1946.

Percy, a superintendent in the Ambulance Service, through promotions arrived with his family in Bellingen in 1950, with first son Geoffrey four years old and wife Betty pregnant.

X-rays taken seven weeks before the births, showed that Betty would have quadruplets.

“But they didn’t want to give her a shock so they didn’t tell her,” first-born quadruplet Alison told News Of The Area.

She was told a “multi birth”.

The four babies were born in Bellingen Hospital in August 1950.

When older brother Geoff first saw all the babies who would “destroy his solitude”, said Alison, “he asked ‘are we keeping them all?’.”

Chatting with Alison, whose birthday is 17 August, and third born quadruplet, Judy, whose birthday is 19 January, NOTA heard endearing life-long tales of a loving, kind and forward-thinking mum.

“Mum wanted us all to be individuals,” said Judy, who has lived in Denmark with her family for many years, always visiting mum Betty every year on her birthday.

“She did a very good job.”

Alison, who lives in Coffs Harbour, said all four quadruplets have lived very different lives, but share a common love of travelling.

Phillip was born on 18 August, while Mark made his mother wait a little longer.

“If he had waited five more minutes he would have been born on 20 August, but as it was, he was born at five-to-midnight on 19 August.”

Betty was a petite lady and her children still marvel at how she did it, producing four healthy babies over a three-day delivery.

“It’s almost macabre to think what she went through, but she wouldn’t have been in labour the whole time,” said Alison.

“We were only the fourth set of surviving quads in the world at the time,” said Judy.

Alison remembers life being in a big family but “didn’t realise we were anything special until we were about nine years old”.

By this time the family was living in Sydney

The love for their mum is palpable as the reminiscing sisters thumb through old photographs.

One of which shows a photo of Betty next to a photo of HRH The Queen of England.

“Mum entered a competition setting the challenge to find someone who looks most like The Queen…and who won? Mum,” laughed Judy.

Betty loved the Queen and would have been pleased that her death year was the same as Queen Elizabeth’s, say her daughters.

“Betty also adored her dear friend Flo Cummings who passed away aged 100 in 2021.

“They both lived at Mater Christi and enjoyed every day in each other’s company.

“After Flo’s death, mum missing her best friend, she never really came back from that loss,” said the daughters.

The family pay gratitude to Mater Christi Nursing Home, Betty’s mentor and doctor, Dr. John Koster, and all the staff at Mater Christi who made Betty feel at home and extremely comfortable.

By Andrea FERRARI