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- Gladstone Hotel owner Cathy Willis, 52, was devastated when she lost her son in a tragic car accident
- To heal the pain she and her husband Bob bought their local pub
- Cathy gave the business her all, staging huge charity events which won her awards and gave her a new lease on life
Here, Cathy shares her story in her own words.
‘I’m coming up on the weekend,’ my son Kieren said. ‘I can’t wait to see the house. Love you Mum.’
‘Love you,’ I replied.
It was April 2021 and I was excited for Kieren, then 23, to see the place I’d bought with my husband Bob, then 60, in Gladstone, Tas.
A builder by trade, Kieren was excited to help us renovate.
My boy and I had always been close. After splitting with his dad years earlier, Kieren became the man of my house before I met Bob in 2014.
At just 14 Kieren met his childhood sweetheart Shania, also 14, at school.
I was thrilled when they married in January 2020.
Kieren was also a talented soccer player and, while he loved a drink with his mates, he was a real family man, incredibly devoted to Shania, me and his sisters Paige, then 23, and Renay, then 19.
Later that night, after chatting with my boy, I was in bed when Bob’s phone rang at around 10pm. It was my dad.
‘Kieren’s had a car accident. He’s passed away,’ I overhead Dad cry.
I started screaming uncontrollably.
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Taking the phone from Bob, Dad told me Kieren had been on the way to soccer training just an hour after we’d spoken.
He’d lost control of the car on a bend and crashed into a tree.
Nothing made sense. How could my baby boy be gone?
Breaking the news to Renay and Paige, they were equally crushed.
The next few days were a blur as we were consumed by immeasurable grief.
Just weeks later, 800 people attended my boy’s funeral to say farewell.
It warmed my heart to see how many lives he’d touched.
Afterwards, in the depths of despair I left my job in aged care.
But as days rolled into weeks and the pain of losing Kieren only got worse, I knew I needed to keep busy.
‘We have to sell the house,’ I told Bob, as it reminded me of Kieren.
One afternoon, around three months after Kieren’s passing, Bob and I headed to the Gladstone Hotel.
We were shocked to see how deserted it was, and learned it was up for sale.
READ MORE: I HAD A BABY IN A PUB CARPARK
The owners Angela and Scotty had done a great job for years, but they were exhausted and keen for some new owners to take the reins.
Speaking to members of our new community in Gladstone, we learned that since the tin mine had closed in the 1980s, the population had dwindled to around 130.
The pub had once been such a lively venue, but if no-one stepped in to save the place, it was feared it could shut for good.
‘Maybe we should take it over?’ I suggested to Bob.
I needed a distraction now more than ever.
‘It sounds interesting,’ he replied. He’d run pubs before, but I’d never done anything of the sort.
While the area had some lovely mountain bike tracks and a lake that was popular with fishers, it seemed such a waste not to have someone try to breathe life back into the drinking hole.
‘Let’s do it!’ I said to Bob a few days later.
He agreed, glad I was interested in something.
We leased the pub in June and moved in above it.
Kieren’s mates gave me a plaque reading Kezza’s bar – named after my boy.
Knowing he would have been the first one pulling a beer, I proudly hung it behind the bar.
We found a fabulous local chef named Sharryn, who started cooking up delicious meals for lunch and dinner.
And we got a coffee machine for people who don’t drink, like me.
When we opened the doors in July 2021, I was nervous, but feeling Kieren’s presence, I knew he’d be proud.
Bob and I were amazed to see locals teeming through the door, eager to check out the new owners.
‘This is great,’ they all cheered. It felt like the entire town had come to support us.
Customers said the pub felt alive again, and I was rushed off my feet slinging beers.
Whenever someone asked what had prompted us to revamp the hotel, I told them about Kieren’s death.
‘That would be so hard,’ many said supportively.
Their kindness helped to ease my pain.
In time, we added on a cafe, hung historical photos on the walls, and built a kids’ playground for families.
It was a far cry from most rural drinking holes, but watching the smiles and laughter reinvigorate the old pub cemented to us that we were on to a good thing.
That December, I organised our first event – a woodchopping competition – with the help of the community, which attracted a huge number of people.
But we didn’t stop there.
We dressed up in historical costumes for a historic Back to Gladstone day in March 2023, and were stunned when thousands of people flooded to the town, and other businesses joined in with us too.
Last November we held our first ever rodeo, and thousands attended.
It was such a hit that Bob and I won the Dorset Council Community Best Event of the Year award.
And I was thrilled to be named as 2024 Citizen of the Year.
‘You’ve saved the town!’ some locals tell me.
But the truth is, the pub – and the town – have saved me.
Whenever Paige, 26, and Renay, 22, visit with their kids Zahara, six, Bridie, five, Alodie, four, Ilsa, three, and Leo, four months, the littlies love the play equipment.
After losing my precious boy, I never imagined life could feel somewhat normal again.
But thanks to the lovely locals, Gladstone has become our home. I wouldn’t dream of living anywhere else.
