John Kilpatrick met his wife Ellen in 1956 – the same year Anglican Care was formed. In the many decades that followed, the dynamic duo dedicated their lives to supporting the local community.

Anglican Care became one of the many non-profit organisations to benefit from their passionate and
caring nature. In 1971, John wanted to help the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle’s mission in the community.

A week later, he was told of a vacancy on the Anglican Care board.

“I said: ‘Well, it’s obviously meant to be,’” John recalls.

For the next 47 years, he played a key role in Anglican Care’s significant growth as chairman and board member.

When he first joined, there was one residential aged care facility in Booragul with about “30 or 40 staff” and around 150 residents.

John oversaw numerous land acquisitions, developments, and new building openings.

It helped position Anglican Care as a leading provider in NSW.

Today, the organisation has grown to nine residential aged care facilities across the Hunter, Central Coast, and Mid North Coast.

Other services include two day support centres, HomeLife, and retirement living.

John says Anglican Care’s greatest asset has always been the people on the ground.

“The service is only as good as the people who provide it,” he says.

“The buildings are just buildings. In my time, McIntosh Court was recognised as having beautiful staff, caring staff, and yet it was an older building.

“The challenge will always be to provide quality care and quality staffing to ensure Anglican Care remains number one in the region.”

One of the residential aged care facilities, Kilpatrick Court, was officially opened in Toronto in 2017.

It was named in honour of John and Ellen for their decades of dedication.

“That meant a lot to us,” John says.

“Ellen was very much part of the time I spent on the board. It’s nice to be recognised but it is obviously not the reason you get involved in the first place.”

Apart from Anglican Care, John served as Lake Macquarie Mayor for 11 years and was on the Samaritans board from 1984 up until 2019.

“With Samaritans, I was quite instrumental in starting it. I helped to get it through the diocesan council and wrote the first constitution,” he says.

“Samaritans reached out to people with poor mental health, people living with disability, and the Indigenous community long before others started doing the same.

“It was people who cared for people.”

John and Ellen are still embedded in the local community.

They attend parish council meetings and are long-term members of Probus and Lions clubs.

John says his various roles, including as Lake Macquarie Mayor, are a testament to their teamwork.

“Ellen was Mayoress for 11 years. In 2008, she was named the first female Freeman of the City,” he says.

“She was recognised because it was a partnership.

“When I was Mayor, Ellen would always remember the names of people I was meeting and attend functions like the Red Cross, Country Women’s Association (CWA), and others that I couldn’t get to.”

Thank you, John and Ellen, for your dedication to Anglican Care, Samaritans, and the local community.