History

                            A Diocesan –Josephite Venture

Liston Village was established by the Archbishop Liston Memorial Foundation under the auspices of Bishop John Mackey, Bishop of the Diocese of Auckland.

The Village was officially blessed and opened by Bishop Mackey on the 30th May 1982.

The Sisters of St. Joseph became involved with Liston Village in 1986 when Sisters Josephine Oates and Clare Conaglen, then living at Owairaka, began visiting the residents and taking them shopping and on trips.

In 1987 the then Children’s Home was altered to accommodate elderly people and became a Rest Home, mainly for the convenience of the Liston Village residents.

Sister Marie Therese Williams joined Sister Josephine in May 1987 and together they set about establishing a warm, comfortable “ home away from home” for the residents.

On September 25 1987 Sisters Josephine and Marie took up residence in the Rest Home to await the arrival of their first guests.

Mrs Margaret Derrick, the first resident, presented herself on October 22, followed on October 28th by Mrs Dorothy Bishop and Mrs Elsie Burns. The Rest Home was on its way.

This enterprise lasted successfully until 18 August 1998 when it was considered to be no longer economically viable and was officially closed.

In these eleven years just on two hundred elderly people passed through the Rest Home, some permanent residents and many short stay patients, mostly from outside the Village itself.

Many Sisters of St. Joseph contributed to the well being of these elderly folk during this time and are lovingly remembered for their kindness, caring and respect for these old, sick, vulnerable people.

Sister Marie McGreevy, then living at Mission Bay, came once a week to do “Occuapational Therapy” with the Rest Home residents and any Village residents who were interested. This took the form of movement to music as well as arts and crafts, and continued from 1994 to 1998.

In 1992 Sister Marie Williams took over management of the Village as well as the Rest Home and continued this ministry after the Rest Home closed until July 2005 when she resigned in favour of taking up a rural ministry in Mangakino.

The Sisters spent many happy years at Liston Village. It was a very fulfilling ministry where the welfare and care of the elderly was paramount.

In return the Sisters learned much about the generosity of the elderly, their patience, graciousness and gentleness as they entered into this phase of their lives.

Liston was never a place where people sat and waited for things to happen. It was an adventure in living where new parts of Auckland and the outlying districts were explored, where new shopping enterprises were taken up and where social living was stretched to the limit but more especially where each person was held tenderly in prayer and in love.

It is pleasing to note that the new manager of Liston Village, Mrs Pauline Pedersen, is an old girl of St. Joseph’s, Grey Lynn, a stronghold of Josephite life and commitment for many years.

Sister Stephanie Kelly continues to work in the village as the Manager relief person continuing the Josephite ministry of visitation and support.

“THERE WHERE YOU ARE YOU WILL FIND GOD.”   Mary MacKillop