Warwick Greats - Alice Meech

Another local hero was Warwick’s grand old lady, Miss Alice Meech (pictured). She was the recipient of the highest recognition in The Salvation Army – the Order of the Founder.

Born in the Inglewood district, she became a Salvationist when she moved to Warwick in 1909. Miss Meech wanted to become a Salvation Army officer but her physical disability – a displaced hip from birth – prevented her from giving full-time service. Instead, she became the treasurer of the Warwick Salvation Army and held that position for 50 years.

Seen regularly collecting for the Army on the streets of Warwick, the Warwick Daily News wrote of her in 1961 that she has been a counsellor and advisor to people who have approached her with their problems. It went on to say that She is not only a familiar and loveable character in the immediate Warwick district but is well-known in the south-west, for her field of Army operation work extending through to Goondiwindi.

Alice Meech died on 10 June 1976, aged 89. In his tribute, Warwick Salvation Army officer Captain Gilston Currie wrote: Behind the box and the bonnet is quite a story … she was crippled from birth but in the ensuing years used the handicap as a spur to self reliance and independence and never as an excuse to do nothing ... Not much is known about the many nights she spent sitting up with the sick and dying, or the wayward girls she took under her care, or the victims of drink she tried to help, or those in low spirits who received an encouraging letter. But these are the things that represent the true spirit of Alice Meech.