Kay Sharp's long career in the local community

Ms Sharp (AM) was born in her grandmother's house in George Street, East Maitland, and lived with her parents in the house next door.

After she and her husband John were married, they moved somewhere her mother worried was too far away; seven streets down the road.

"This is where I belong, and we have all our friends around us and family reasonably close so, I just love East Maitland," Ms Sharp said.

Ms Sharp's long career has taken her to places she hadn't dreamed of.

After leaving school at 14-years-old, she worked as stenographer to the town clerk, Stan Dunkley.

After six years, Ms Sharp married John and had to stay home, because 'married women didn't work in those days'.

"I thought that was it for me, I'll be staying home for the rest of my life, that was it... and then circumstances changed," she said.

Ms Sharp returned to the workforce part time after her husband had an accident and was off work.

She enjoyed being in the workforce, and by 1973 Ms Sharp and her long time best friend Bev Steggles set up Maitland's first staff selection agency with the goal to bring women back into the workforce.

After this Ms Sharp started her long-term working relationship with 'Mr Maitland' Milton Morris AO, who was the state member for Maitland at the time, as electoral secretary.

Ms Sharp and Mr Morris went on to start Hunter Valley Training Company in 1981, and Ms Sharp went from founding employee to executive director. She stayed at HVTC for 38 years.

"When you were able to see a young person come along, who at the time would appear, statistically, to not have a lot of opportunity to find their goal in a trade area, and you could actually help them get there, that was worth it as far as I was concerned," Ms Sharp said.

In 1996 Ms Sharp was made a member of the Order of Australia for services to vocational education and training, and in 2012 she was made Freeman of the City of Maitland for training of young people and service to the city.

Ms Sharp said she learned all the skills that helped her get those awards from all the people she met along the way.

"It's just great to see the training company going from strength to strength and doing so well," she said.

Now, the mother, grandmother and great grandmother is starting to slow down and enjoy retirement, but still has a hand in some community projects.

When she and John (who have been married for 61 years now) aren't traveling, Ms Sharp is busy as director of the 10 Class Locomotives board, which works to preserve two historic steam trains for future generations.

"Maitland is a great place, it's changed an awful lot over my years and it'll continue to do that, which is great and it will still always be Maitland for me," Ms Sharp said.

"There's great people here, I've got great friends so I've had a blessed life."

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