INTRODUCTION
Kia ora and welcome to everyone. Today we celebrate Mum’s life – her passing is an end of a generation. As Mum used to say, she was the last of the Mohicans.
TRAVELLERS
A special welcome to those relatives who have flown here: Nicola Downes and Martin Little from Christchurch.
Alison and Kevin O’Sullivan from Invercargill, Daniel from Auckland and Liam from Linton.
Anne Latham (Mum’s God daughter) and Bridget Nairn (my God-daughter) and her husband Darryl and Nigel Little, his wife Adele and their daughter Zoe. All from Auckland. Holly Langler who has travelled here from Sydney.
These past 4 years have been a challenging time for Mum. The initial stroke robbed her of her most precious sense – her
hearing, and I think this was the hardest disability in which she had to contend with.
THANKS
Firstly I would like to thank the Parish and St Anne’s Church who supported Mum with their regular visits. Deborah Broome and also Lorna McCullagh, Rosemary Tomlinson and Kay Poynton, who also visited on behalf of the RSA. A special mention and thank you for your support goes to
Paula Baynes who as Parish Nurse and a friend has visited Mum on a regular basis over these past 4 years.
Thank you also to everyone else who visited Mum that I may have overlooked here.
And thank you all for coming along today to celebrate Mum’s life with us
I will be talking about Mum’s early life and nursing career. Alastair will talk about her later life. She wrote her life story in 2005 and I am going to include some quotes from that.
Mum was born on 12 September 1926, to Kitty and George Williamson. She was the youngest of the family and she had three older sisters – Erica, Pamela and Lorna. Mum was named Grace after her Aunt who had died from TB. She was called Gay because her family thought she was such a happy and gay baby. This name stuck and this was what she was known by, for the rest of her life.
Mum’s parents built their first house at 16 Sugarloaf Road, up 120 steps. Her father was fortunate (considering it was the Depression) to find work as a commercial traveller in the grocery business.
SCHOOL AND FAMILY
On her first day at Brooklyn School she befriended Margaret Proudfoot, who I was named after. This enduring friendship has spanned 83 years. Margaret would have loved to be here today, but she is in a nursing home in Auckland. Mum was Dux of
Brooklyn School.
Life was very different growing up in the pre war years.
There were no washing machines. Mondays were devoted to wash days. The water was boiled up in a gas copper, clothes were put into a tub with a big stick and rinsed through a hand wringer.
In those days there was no TV. Mum’s mother was a very good piano player. On Sunday nights the family gathered around for a sing song around the piano
There was no milk that came in cartons or bottles. Mum writes “We put our billies out for our milk, which were delivered from Fitchett’s Farm in Brooklyn, now residential housing.”
COLLEGE YEARS
Mum commenced at Wellington Girls College in 1939 at the start of the Second World War. The war and the restrictions dominated the rest of her schooling. There were black outs and food and clothing rationing. She enjoyed her college years, and was a school prefect and won a prepared speech competition (her verbal skills were evident early on!).
During the war years at Wellington Girl’s College Mum was President of the Red Cross. There was a fear that the Japanese may invade New Zealand, so they ran ‘mock’ scenarios, dealing with seriously injured people. Mum excelled in her role and her mother was notified by the teacher that she would make an excellent nurse. This chance remark led her to choose nursing as a career.
Mum undertook her training at New Plymouth Hospital, then considered the best nursing school in the North Island, requiring high entry qualifications.
NURSING TRAINING
In Mums life story she talks about what happened to her soon after she started her training. She writes :
“ I had been there a very short time when I was summoned to Matrons office. The first words to me were “How dare you wear your cardigan in my presence!” I had no idea about cardigans and when I was allowed to wear them. I immediately began to remove it and she said “How dare you undress in my presence!” I stood with my hands behind my back with cardigan half on and half off, not knowing what I was supposed to do. You learnt that you addressed anyone senior to you with your hands behind your back and you always stood aside to let more senior nurses through the door. So, this was my introduction to the nursing school, nursing discipline and hierarchy.”
AUSTRALIA
Once qualified, Mum and her nursing friend Verna Thompson went to work in Australia.
One of her nursing jobs was at Cooma Hospital. Many thousands of people – Greeks, Italians and Swedes and other recent
immigrants had flooded in to build the Snowy Mountain hydro-electric scheme. At that time it was the largest hydro-hydro-electric system in the Southern hemisphere. It was challenging work, with language difficulties and limited resources. At one time she found herself running the theatre and assisting during surgery. Mum also worked in Melbourne and Sydney and at Margaret River in Western Australia. She then returned to Wellington. WELLINGTON HOSPITAL
On her return to Wellington Hospital she was appointed Sister of a busy surgical ward. Mum represented surgical and
orthopaedic staff at a Royal Commission set up to address staff and resource shortages. In 1954, she completed a post graduate Diploma in Hospital Administration and Nursing Education and subsequently was appointed a Nurse Tutor at Wellington
PRACTICE NURSING
Mum returned to nursing when I was about 10 years old. She worked at the Northland Medical Centre, just up the road here as a part-time practice nurse for 20 years, working for Dr Bill Treadwell and Dr Ken Greer. She introduced a system of visiting patients at Wellington Hospital, liaising with Hospital Staff and reporting back to the G.P.s’.
COMMUNITY WORK
Mum had many community interests.
She was President of the ‘Mothers Helpers Association’ which provided home help.
On retirement from the Northland Medical Centre, she became President of the Community Health Volunteers, transporting patients to their Hospital visits.
CONCLUSION
Mums motivations that she identified in her life story included : 1. Giving something back to the community.
2. ‘Love thy neighbour’, that is, helping those less fortunate. 3. Focus on the big picture and don’t concern yourself with trivial matters.
MUMS QUALITIES
In my view, Mum’s main qualities as I saw them, were that: she was a determined and independent person, who held
strong opinions and had high values.
She was a natural communicator who loved talking and was always interested in other people.
She had a keen sense of humour and a strong community spirit. Her faith has guided her throughout her life.
What have I inherited from her?
I certainly did not inherit her ‘talking gene’!
But I have inherited a love of books, a love of knowledge, and a good sense of humour.
I too have a strong sense of justice, believing that all people should be treated fairly and with kindness, and like her, I became a nurse.
Mum, you have led a full life, touched many peoples’ lives, given of yourself to others, your family and the wider community. Go in peace now.
