Whyte, Mary Grace

• Asche, Mary Grace

1926-

Mary Grace Whyte was born Mary Grace Asche on 23 March, 1926 to missionary parents. She graduated with Bachelors degrees in medicine and surgery at the University of Melbourne. In February 1951 she married Isaac Neilson Whyte. After he was ordained in 1952, they went to the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) with the Australian Presbyterian Board of Missions. They were based in the village of Wintua in South West Bay on the island of Malekula, 1952-1957. The Whytes had seven children; the eldest four spent their early years in Wintua.

Mary Grace provided medical care in Wintua and surrounding villages and introduced preventive measures such as inoculations against tuberculosis and using mosquito nets to protect from malaria. She was also engaged in talking to women about their health, especially childbirth. The Whyte family returned to Australia in 1957 as Neilson was experiencing a lot of pain from war service injuries. Mary Grace made subsequent visits to South West Bay throughout her life. She is also an artist who has painted many scenes of the New Hebrides.

Whyte, Isaac Neilson (1919-1972)

Campbell, M. (2009). Remember your leaders. Volume 1, Moderators and Clerks of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu, 1948-2008. Portarlington, Vic. Published for the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu by Malcolm Campbell