Fennell also served as the president of the union's Mount Isa branch, a role she said she enjoyed more because of being able to better relate to the Queensland graziers who she described as "real people".
[4][5] Born in the South West Queensland town of Charleville in 1933 where she was raised, Fennell moved further north following the end of her first marriage.
[6] She eloped and married her childhood friend Mark Fennell in a small ceremony in Blackall in 1959 after which they moved to a remote property called "Linda Downs" near the Northern Territory border.
[5][11] The Fennell's attempted to retire to the coast when they relocated to Bundaberg in 2016 but they returned to Mount Isa in early 2020 where they have stayed.
[14] Fennell was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of her service to women's health in rural and remote Queensland.