Our Mum, Granny Kenyon, Great Grandma, died peacefully in the early hours of last Friday 28th October after 102 glorious years of life's adventures and creating our family. Her three"girls" were together in Sydney when the news came through. It's been a momentous week..........
This is the earliest photo we have of Mum who was born on the 31st July 1914 - just as the guns were being fired in the early days of World War 1....
It mustn't have been an easy childhood - losing her father before the age of two and having to live with her Grandmother while her mother went back to work. It sounds like her mother's second marriage a few years later did not result in happier times for Betty either.
And then the Great Depression hit.....which meant Betty had to leave school earlier than planned and find work to help support the family. This she did and did well by all accounts...by the latter half of the 1930s Betty was having a great life - this skiing holiday near Smiggin Holes in the Snowy Mountains with her girlfriends, being an absolute highlight.
And then the Second World War started.......but it didn't stop Betty marrying Stan in 1941. However, in the spirit of wartime austerity their wedding was a low key affair.
Maxine was born in Roma Queensland in 1946, Judith was born in 1951; by this time the family was living in Brisbane.
Roslyn was born in 1958, making the family complete.
20 years passed..the girls all grew to adulthood and married wonderful men. Grandchildren came on the scene between 1975 and 1982 (5 grandchildren all up).
This is a happy pic of Betty taken in July 1978 (aged 64 years), knitting boottees.
This happy pic of Betty was taken at Erin and John's wedding, 11 years later, in April 2009 (Betty is in her 95th year by now).
Betty K and her three "girls" at Coogee Beach in 2011- very excited about Davey's and Cath's visit with baby Eddie.
Betty K adored all her great grandchildren (all 8 of them (so far)). This pic is of Betty K and Ollie in December 2011.
Betty K moved to Mirinjani Hostel in July 2012 just before her 98th
birthday. This pic with "lovely Joel" was taken in January 2014 (the flowers are from Kay - now Joel's wife).
Betty K's 100th birthday was celebrated in style in early August 2014 - there were 24 family members at the party!
Rod took this lovely picture of Betty K (Mum), about 10 days ago in her room at Mirinjani. She's wearing her favourite colour and has her Canberra Times open at the crosswords - a lovely way to remember her.
Despite all her difficulties in the last year or so Betty K always remained positive, cheerful and interested in everything the family was doing - and much loved and appreciated by the staff at Mirinjani.
Rest in Peace, unforgettable and inspirational Betty K!!
This is the earliest photo we have of Mum who was born on the 31st July 1914 - just as the guns were being fired in the early days of World War 1....
And then the Great Depression hit.....which meant Betty had to leave school earlier than planned and find work to help support the family. This she did and did well by all accounts...by the latter half of the 1930s Betty was having a great life - this skiing holiday near Smiggin Holes in the Snowy Mountains with her girlfriends, being an absolute highlight.
20 years passed..the girls all grew to adulthood and married wonderful men. Grandchildren came on the scene between 1975 and 1982 (5 grandchildren all up).
This is a happy pic of Betty taken in July 1978 (aged 64 years), knitting boottees.
Stan died after a short but intense battle with cancer on the 20th
March 1981. Ros and Pete’s baby son Joel was
born a few weeks later in April 1981.
17 years on, Betty's eldest grand-daughter Claire and her Jeremy were married on
the 19th December 1998. Betty K was aged 84
years by now. She moved to Canberra (under her own steam) in April of this
year.
Rod took this lovely picture of Betty K (Mum), about 10 days ago in her room at Mirinjani. She's wearing her favourite colour and has her Canberra Times open at the crosswords - a lovely way to remember her.
Despite all her difficulties in the last year or so Betty K always remained positive, cheerful and interested in everything the family was doing - and much loved and appreciated by the staff at Mirinjani.
Rest in Peace, unforgettable and inspirational Betty K!!
1 comment:
Lovely story Judy. I read it aloud to Eddie who was very interested in who everyone was and what had happened to granny. He especially liked the bit where everyone was excited about meeting baby Eddie, and wanted to know if everyone would be able to read it too.
She was a lovely Granny and it was nice reading about her life. I hope we are all able to inherit her ability to persevere without complaint, and admirable quality. Xx
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