Alice Nolan Elphick, AC, OBE (4 August 1921 – 20 June 2008), probably better known as Sister Mary Bernice Elphick, was a nun of the Sisters of Charity of Australia with a long and prestigious record of service to health.[1][2]
Elphick was born on 4 August 1921, in country Victoria (Foster, South Gippsland), to Herbert and Sarah Elphick. Her father was both a farmer and a railway engineer. Alice had three brothers and two sisters. Elphick completed her high school education and nursing training in Melbourne.[1][2]
She entered the Novitiate of the Sisters of Charity on 2 July 1943, and was professed on 14 January 1946, taking the name Sister (Sr.) Bernice.[1][2]
Elphick first appointment was in 1946 at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney. She proceeded through a number of positions at various St Vincent's Hospitals around the country. From 1957-1962, she served as the Mother Rectress in Launceston and, from 1963, she served as the Mother Rectress in Sydney, managing the hospital as well as the Convent.[1][2]
In recognition of her service, Elphick was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1977,[3] a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1986,[4] and a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2006.[5][6][7]
In 2002, a fund-raising rose for the Victor Chang Institute was named after her.[1]
In 2004, a wing at the St Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst was named in her honour.[8]
Elphick retired in 1997, and died at the St Joseph's Aged Care Facility, Kensington (Sydney) on 20 June 2008.[1]
