Judy and Paul Braybrooks with Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins.
The Braybrooks’ have recently retired and sold their pharmacy in Parker Street Cootamundra. The Braybrooks’ met in London in 1977 while Judy was on a working holiday and while working in the Middlesex Hospital in central London. They were married in Sydney in August 1978 and then spent the first years of their marriage in Wollongong and the UK, where Sally was born. They worked as managers in a number of retail pharmacies before coming to Cootamundra mid-winter of 1983.
They were looking at various pharmacies which were for sale in the south of NSW. They liked what they saw and made an offer to purchase the pharmacy in Cootamundra from Bill Giffen at 200 Parker Street. At the end of September 1983 they drove back to town with their 18 month old daughter Sally to take over the business on the 4th October, after the long weekend. Initially the three of them moved in to the flat above the Pharmacy and lived there for two years. “It was convenient to live so close” said Paul,” as we needed to spend so much time renovating and rearranging the pharmacy we had bought”.
After two years they purchased a small block of land from Dr David Miller on Salt Clay Road, built a new home and moved just out of town. Both Judy and Paul quickly got involved in the community. Judy joined and is still a member of the local Soroptimist Club and she joined the local branch of Save the Children.
Paul joined Rotary and was a member of the board of Cootamundra Advancement Corporation. While Paul spent most of the week as the pharmacist at Braybrooks Pharmacy, Judy worked when she could, but with the arrival of two further daughters, Fiona and Julia, her time at the pharmacy was limited. When Paul decided to successfully stand for Council and become the Deputy Mayor and then the Mayor, Judy was able to take on more of the work load at the pharmacy.
“Although being Mayor was not a full time job, Paul was soon appointed to many other Local Government positions, especially in Sydney which took so much extra time, that I needed to take over the daily pharmacist role” said Judy. Paul was Mayor of the Cootamundra Shire Council for 15years and during that time Judy ran the pharmacy on a daily basis and Paul still undertook all the financial side of the business. It made a great partnership. Paul was honoured to be awarded an OAM for services to Cootamundra through his work in Local Government. Paul has retained some of the out of town commitments for the moment, but they are both hoping for a more relaxed time at home together.
However, they are certainly looking forward to an easing of the travel restrictions due to Covid-19 as soon as possible so they can they can drive to country Victoria to see their new grandson, recently born to Julia and Bart. Both Judy and Paul would like to thank all their amazing staff who have worked with them over so many years and thank the loyal customers who have been a pleasure to serve. In the mean time they have plenty of things to keep them busy, especially their collection of old cars, after the busy life of running a pharmacy for over 37 years.
The staff from Braybrooks Pharmacy are embracing change with the sale of the pharmacy to ‘Pharmacy Alliance’ Pictured: Stephanie Anderson-O’Brien, Katie Bell, Pharmacist Chad Rizkallah, Liz Everett and Donna Potter.