June Dally Watkins has 'the Lord's hand on my shoulder'
Catholic Weekly (23 April 2006) by Emma Logan
"The Lord has played a big part in my life," says June Dally Watkins. "I always knew someone was guiding me but it wasn't until later on that I figured out it was God," she said.
"I realised the Lord has had his hand on my shoulder an is still guiding me today," she told guests at a Catholic Women's League lunch last week.
June, best known perhaps for her business and deportment schools in Sydney and Brisbane, was named Australia's most photographed model in 1949 and in 1993 was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her contribution to business.
It is a far cry from her childhood on a remote property at Watson's Creek, outside Tamworth. Her mother was a single parent and as a young girl "life was tough".
"I used to walk the two miles to school and back alone every day," she said.
"But I think it was during this time, spending so many hours on my own, that I developed the huge imagination that has taken me to where I am today."
June moved to Sydney when her mother married David Dally Watkins and began her career modelling hats for Farmers department store.
She opened her Sydney school of deportment and modelling in 1950 and another soon after in Brisbane; both are still running successfully today.
"I had 12 students to start with and from there on it just got bigger and bigger," she says.
"There was a real demena for that sort of thing because there wasn't anything of its kind around at the time."
June became a Catholic when she met her husband; they were married in St Mary's Cathedral.
"Growing up we were so isolated from everyone that I didn't even know what religion I was," she recalled.
"I remember on Sundays we would say 'there go the Catholics again'. I thought Mass must be another place like Bundameer."
June now has four children and is still actively involved in her businesses.
She has also written a book 'The Secrets Behind My Smile', documenting the story of her difficult childhood and successful leap into the world of modelling.
