On a mission

Veronica’s career shaped by call to serve world needs

A willingness to go and serve world needs is an ideal Veronica Baird made real. Moving as a high school student into the women’s residence with twin sister Yvonne, she would complete the secretarial course at Avondale then study nursing at Sydney Adventist Hospital. A day after graduating, this missionary daughter married a missionary son called Ron—the two met in their last semester at college—and moved to the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Aboriginal mission in Karalundi, Western Australia. Following the birth of children Graham and Jennifer, the family moved to the highlands of New Guinea where Veronica served again as a mission nurse, attending to combat wounds and tropical diseases. With Ron away for days on end, managing the mission while homeschooling the children left Veronica with little discretionary time.

Then came the call to India, where Ron led the health work of the Adventist Church in southern Asia. Veronica supported him by developing and presenting innovative five-day stop-smoking campaigns. The family served on the subcontinent—in the north east, the capital, the west and the south—for more than 25 years. They made lifelong friends and fostered a Khasi daughter, Monica, from Assam in North East India. The opportunity to learn about so many of the cultures and lifestyles of the Adventist Church family, which Veronica describes as “truly a worldwide movement,” has been a blessing.

Veronica’s experience as a missionary, nurse and teacher served her well over many years as head deaconess of her local church. In retirement, she and Ron accepted many preaching appointments in Sydney and the Hunter.

The Class of 1951 honours Veronica Baird for a career dedicated to supporting the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific and southern Asia.