Elsie Agnes Tuia was born on the 18th of February 1933 at the isolated house in Southampton, her mother Aurelia was alone during the birth. Elsie was the second eldest of four childen.
Elsie first attended school at Southampton, then Brookhampton whereby she had to ride her much hated horse each way. Her final school years were at St Philomena’s where she attended until the age of fourteen. At age fourteen she left school to work alongside the family on the farm for two years before leaving to work packing apples at the Wesfarmers apple shed. During this period, she boarded in Donnybrook town. Whilst packing apples, she met Roderick James Froome and they began courting. At the age of eighteen Elsie had a change of career and began working as a waitress at the Railway Hotel in Donnybrook before getting married to Roderick (Rod) on the 14th of February 1954 at the age of 21.
Elsie and Rod purchased their first home at 20 Emerald Street where they began their family with David Wayne followed by Trevor James, Gary William and Christine Anne. While the children were young, Elsie fulfilled the role of housewife and mother. In addition, she was heavily involved in the local catholic school where she served as Secretary on the P&F Committee for many years. During this time, she also worked the apple packing season and on her brother Nino’s potato harvester while maintaining her other roles.
Sadly, in 1977 Rod passed away from a heart attack leaving his devastated family behind. After Rod’s death Elsie began working full-time as a Hospital Domestic at the Donnybrook Hospital. She continued working in this role until 1995 before retiring and moving to Busselton. She still lives in Busselton today and is active in the community, volunteering for various charitable organisations.