The Australian Women's Register

Palma Alfirevich was born in Boulder, the sixth child of Katica Rulyancich.

Katica Rulyancich had migrated to Kalgoorlie from Yugoslavia with her husband Jacov in 1909 in search of work and a better life. Jakov died of Spanish Influenza virus in 1919, leaving Katica as a single mother with five children.

After the death of her husband, Katica received the Mine Workers’ Relief Pension, which was discontinued when she entered a relationship with Palma’s father, Dan Nazor, a miner. She had two children with Dan Nazor, Palma and her brother, Joe, but never married again. Dan Nazor lived and worked at the Dusted Miners’ Settlement at Southern Cross, and later died of silicosis.

Palma attended the Boulder Primary School, but her education was disrupted during the 1934 Boulder riots when the family home was burnt down and she had to miss school for some months. She left school at 14 and worked in a boarding house in Boulder, where she met her husband Bob Alfirevich.

Palma married Bob Alfirevich in 1942, they had two sons. Palma worked with her husband in Kalgoorlie and later in Perth, where they opened a local delicatessen and grocery store.

Palma retired to Mandurah and died in 2015.