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[Page 115]
EULOGY
BY
JOHN WOOD
Well wouldn't Mother be happy to see us all here today like this and we should all be so happy to have known our Mother, our grandMother, our great grandMother, our aunty, our stepsister, our friend and typical of Mother we are together at such a joyous time as Christmas. So lets be happy.
May I just reflect on Mother.
She was born in Cobar in New South Wales the 29th April 1911, the daughter of Henry Hawkins, a Gallipoli veteran and Lillian Taylor. In her girlhood she spent many years around Crows Nest and the North Shore.
And from those early formulative years she grew an affection to the North Shore of Sydney and how fitting it is that Mother has passed away while temporarily residing at Wahroonga.
Mother married Raymond Wood in January 1930 and from that marriage there were seven children, Merle, Beryl. Albert who was tragically killed in 1950 and Mother forever was torn with grief over Alberts premature departure from us, and there was Betty. myself, Margaret and Yvonne.
They were tough days from the depression through World War II, from a humpy on Botany Bay beach.
Dad was a naughty man sometimes and in face of dire financial straights Mum was always there to prepare those traditional Sunday roast dinners, those lamington cakes. She was the inspiration for us all.
We all went our own way and Merle left school pretty early to sort of keep the dollars coming in. Ultimately those seven children produced 11 grandchildren and isn't it great that Mothers first grandchild, Stan O'Hare is with us and isn't it also marvelous that of those 11 grandchildren the only two females Cheryl and my daughter Shani are with us.
Dad passed away. Mother sort of revitalised herself, life has got to continue and in March 1961 she married Harold Forshaw and that was the beginning of 23 joysome years for Mother.
And we remember the happy environment that Mother and Harold lived in the North Coast of New South Wales. around Ballina and the Gold Coast of Queensland. I particularly remember Arron and myself going up there so many times and enjoying going out on the Broadwater in the little run-about "Edith May".