Not many people ever realised it, but Grandma had very much the soul of a philosopher. I fondly recall the conversations we had, particularly about the enigma of human nature. I don't think she had the opportunity to share her reflections with many people, and it always felt like a bit of an honour when we'd have such chats. Life did not give her many chances to explore such useless yet fundamental pursuits; with these words I would like to honour the spirit of curiosity and questioning that dwelled within her. The other trait that I really admired about her was her sense of humour. She could make light of the most terrible hardship and turn it into a source of strength. Her “gallows humour” in the last years of her life – filled with pain, blindness, and injuries – was truly hilarious; she had rich comedic gifts. Such light-heartedness is only seen in those most courageous of people. Grandma sometimes reminded me of the big bad wolf from Red Riding Hood, masquerading as a little old lady. I like wolves and I always felt like I inherited this resemblance from her a little bit. Thanks Grandma!

Not many people ever realised it, but Grandma had very much the soul of a philosopher. I fondly recall the conversations we had, particularly about the enigma of human nature. I don't think she had the opportunity to share her reflections with many people, and it always felt like a bit of an honour when we'd have such chats. Life did not give her many chances to explore such useless yet fundamental pursuits; with these words I would like to honour the spirit of curiosity and questioning that dwelled within her. The other trait that I really admired about her was her sense of humour. She could make light of the most terrible hardship and turn it into a source of strength. Her “gallows humour” in the last years of her life – filled with pain, blindness, and injuries – was truly hilarious; she had rich comedic gifts. Such light-heartedness is only seen in those most courageous of people. Grandma sometimes reminded me of the big bad wolf from Red Riding Hood, masquerading as a little old lady. I like wolves and I always felt like I inherited this resemblance from her a little bit. Thanks Grandma!

Not many people ever realised it, but Grandma had very much the soul of a philosopher. I fondly recall the conversations we had, particularly about the enigma of human nature. I don't think she had the opportunity to share her reflections with many people, and it always felt like a bit of an honour when we'd have such chats. Life did not give her many chances to explore such useless yet fundamental pursuits; with these words I would like to honour the spirit of curiosity and questioning that dwelled within her. The other trait that I really admired about her was her sense of humour. She could make light of the most terrible hardship and turn it into a source of strength. Her “gallows humour” in the last years of her life – filled with pain, blindness, and injuries – was truly hilarious; she had rich comedic gifts. Such light-heartedness is only seen in those most courageous of people.

Not many people ever realised it, but Grandma had very much the soul of a philosopher. I fondly recall the conversations we had, particularly about the enigma of human nature. I don't think she had the opportunity to share her reflections with many people, and it always felt like a bit of an honour when we'd have such chats. Life did not give her many chances to explore such useless yet fundamental pursuits; with these words I would like to honour the spirit of curiosity and questioning that dwelled within her. The other trait that I really admired about her was her sense of humour. She could make light of the most terrible hardship and turn it into a source of strength. Her “gallows humour” in the last years of her life – filled with pain, blindness, and injuries – was truly hilarious; she had rich comedic gifts. Such light-heartedness is only seen in those most courageous of people.

Life dealt Eveline Georgina Fletcher Lauer a difficult hand but she coped with the bad times and got up and back in the game over and over again because she was a very intelligent lady with an optimistic outlook and the capacity for hard work. The mother of five sons, she loved all of her children, each as equally as possible, but her eldest son, Tony, was her golden haired boy who could do no wrong in her eyes. She mothered him alone for three months in Newcastle and chose his names, the only son she had the opportunity to do so. Over many years, she helped each of her sons, their wives and their children [her grandchildren], their grandchildren and their wider families, and all of these people have much to thank her for. She was delighted when great great grand children came along, the first time this had happened in the family. As a child, her older sister, who was very ill with rheumatic fever, was central to events in the family. This sister was expected to die before she turned seven, but lived until she was 77. Eveline was kept home from school to help her mother care for her sister and later, when Eveline went to work, she had to give her sister half of all her earnings. Eveline went to high school for two years. It was normal at that time to leave high school after two years of study, and, despite pleas from her teacher to let her continue for one more year and complete the Intermediate Certificate, her parents decided that she should go out to work at the age of 14. She met her future husband, Louis Lauer, when he came looking for work in her father’s butcher’s shop. They married in Parkes, NSW, in 1935, when Eveline was a few weeks past her 18th birthday. Eveline’s life featured periods of hard work, happy periods of enjoyment and the ever present adultery of her husband, but she refused to think badly of him and forgave his affairs over and over again. When Louis enlisted in World War II, Eveline spent a dreary period as a single parent to three young boys in Springwood, NSW, but it was in this period that she saved enough money for Louis and her to start a butcher shop after the war. When the war ended, households were still in a primitive state with ice chests instead of refrigerators and no modern electrical appliances. Eveline had to wash five butcher’s aprons, short white coats and shirts in addition to the family wash, collecting wood to fire up the copper to boil the whites and wringing all the clothes by hand before they were hoisted up high on a clothes line using long props of wood. Ironing was done with an iron such as one sees only in museums these days. When the butchery first started, Louis would only bring home meat that did not sell easily: pigs heads, pigs trotters, ox livers and kidneys, lambs frys and kidneys, brains, sweetbreads and tripe, all of which Eveline cooked into delicious meals, while at the same time caring for her baby fourth son, Phillip, born 1946. The business had its ups and downs, but Eveline was happy enough and took to playing golf at the local Springwood club. At weekends, often more than a dozen relatives would turn up for Sunday dinner, always followed by fruit salad, Louis’ favourite dessert. A bad period came in 1966. Suffering a very painful epidural abscess, she needed a laminectomy to remove part of her spine. In convalescence from this, she suffered a massive pulmonary embolism, which prevented any blood flow through her right lung. Somehow she survived. It was at this time that Louis wanted to move in with one of the neighbouring ladies. While Eveline was in hospital with the epidural abscess, Louis had forced her sign for a loan with a mortgage on the house, from which he got the loan money [$10,000 in 1966 dollars], but all of the responsibility for payment fell to Eveline. Forced to move out of the house because of Louis’ physical violence to her, Eveline first took a job as cleaner, scrubbing floors on her knees while wearing her back brace, in order to get enough money to pay the mortgage, remembering that Louis had told her that he intended to leave her in debt up to her neck. Her other major concern at this time was for the welfare of her fifth son, Nicholas, born 1953, but the situation improved when Nicholas obtained a half scholarship to a boarding school and Eveline took a position at Pymble Ladies College, rising soon to the excellent position of Head Mistress of Goodlet House. This lasted a few years, but came to an end when Eveline was found to have extremely high blood pressure and had to stop work and accept a disability pension. Life was difficult money-wise, and Eveline was happy to arrive at the end of the mortgage payments, only to find that the principal $10,000 had to be repaid. She had no alternative but to sell the house, which she had clung to, hoping against hope that life with Louis would again happen. There was no money over after the house sale provided just enough to pay out her debts. The next few years were a struggle. But after Louis died in 1974 and Eveline was accepted for public housing [a small apartment in Lalor Park], she was given a Veteran Affairs pension. Life became easier. Eveline obtained a Readers Ticket at the Mitchell Library and spent many hours researching the family tree, teaching herself to use the microfilm reels, index cards and microfilches. She had seen a good deal of Australia over the years, with trips on the Indian Pacific to visit her sister in Perth, to Melbourne, a tour of Tasmania, not to mention all the places in Queensland she had been to or lived in. She went to Darwin and to Kakadu. Now overseas trips started: there were several to New Zealand and she toured all of both the North and South Islands, including a visit to Stewart Island. China was visited on three occasions. There were multiple cruises, including the Queen Elizabeth II and other ships, trips to New Guinea, much of south east Asia and Western Europe and the British Isles. She kissed the Blarney Stone. In this golden period of her life there was fine restaurant dining, theatre and opera. The decline in health started when Eveline was 78 years old. Atrial fibrillation, heart problems, joint problems with both hips replaced and the right knee joint replaced, thyroid disease that needed daily medication, cataracts, with first one eye operated on and then the other. Eveline was able to bear all these with a cheerful outlook. Finally in her late eighties, bilateral macular degeneration struck. This made her life very difficult but she coped remarkably well, buying her food and cooking her own meals. A fall in February 2008 was the start of her final decline. This broke her femur near the left hip replacement. She recovered well from an operation on this, only to fall again and badly break her right leg, with the fracture involving the knee replacement prosthesis. While she was in hospital having this attended to, her wedding ring and her sapphire ring were taken from her apartment, a source of much unhappiness to her. Recovery this time was slow and marked by increasing pain and increasing difficulty in managing everyday life, particularly as her vision worsened. The stoke that carried her off was unexpected, but swiftly brought an end to her suffering.

Life dealt Eveline Georgina Fletcher Lauer a difficult hand but she coped with the bad times and got up and back in the game over and over again because she was a very intelligent lady with an optimistic outlook and the capacity for hard work. The mother of five sons, she loved all of her children, each as equally as possible, but her eldest son, Tony, was her golden haired boy who could do no wrong in her eyes. She mothered him alone for three months in Newcastle and chose his names, the only son she had the opportunity to do so. Over many years, she helped each of her sons, their wives and their children [her grandchildren], their grandchildren and their wider families, and all of these people have much to thank her for. She was delighted when great great grand children came along, the first time this had happened in the family. As a child, her older sister, who was very ill with rheumatic fever, was central to events in the family. This sister was expected to die before she turned seven, but lived until she was 77. Eveline was kept home from school to help her mother care for her sister and later, when Eveline went to work, she had to give her sister half of all her earnings. Eveline went to high school for two years. It was normal at that time to leave high school after two years of study, and, despite pleas from her teacher to let her continue for one more year and complete the Intermediate Certificate, her parents decided that she should go out to work at the age of 14. She met her future husband, Louis Lauer, when he came looking for work in her father’s butcher’s shop. They married in Parkes, NSW, in 1935, when Eveline was a few weeks past her 18th birthday. Eveline’s life featured periods of hard work, happy periods of enjoyment and the ever present adultery of her husband, but she refused to think badly of him and forgave his affairs over and over again. When Louis enlisted in World War II, Eveline spent a dreary period as a single parent to three young boys in Springwood, NSW, but it was in this period that she saved enough money for Louis and her to start a butcher shop after the war. When the war ended, households were still in a primitive state with ice chests instead of refrigerators and no modern electrical appliances. Eveline had to wash five butcher’s aprons, short white coats and shirts in addition to the family wash, collecting wood to fire up the copper to boil the whites and wringing all the clothes by hand before they were hoisted up high on a clothes line using long props of wood. Ironing was done with an iron such as one sees only in museums these days. When the butchery first started, Louis would only bring home meat that did not sell easily: pigs heads, pigs trotters, ox livers and kidneys, lambs frys and kidneys, brains, sweetbreads and tripe, all of which Eveline cooked into delicious meals, while at the same time caring for her baby fourth son, Phillip, born 1946. The business had its ups and downs, but Eveline was happy enough and took to playing golf at the local Springwood club. At weekends, often more than a dozen relatives would turn up for Sunday dinner, always followed by fruit salad, Louis’ favourite dessert. A bad period came in 1966. Suffering a very painful epidural abscess, she needed a laminectomy to remove part of her spine. In convalescence from this, she suffered a massive pulmonary embolism, which prevented any blood flow through her right lung. Somehow she survived. It was at this time that Louis wanted to move in with one of the neighbouring ladies. While Eveline was in hospital with the epidural abscess, Louis had forced her sign for a loan with a mortgage on the house, from which he got the loan money [$10,000 in 1966 dollars], but all of the responsibility for payment fell to Eveline. Forced to move out of the house because of Louis’ physical violence to her, Eveline first took a job as cleaner, scrubbing floors on her knees while wearing her back brace, in order to get enough money to pay the mortgage, remembering that Louis had told her that he intended to leave her in debt up to her neck. Her other major concern at this time was for the welfare of her fifth son, Nicholas, born 1953, but the situation improved when Nicholas obtained a half scholarship to a boarding school and Eveline took a position at Pymble Ladies College, rising soon to the excellent position of Head Mistress of Goodlet House. This lasted a few years, but came to an end when Eveline was found to have extremely high blood pressure and had to stop work and accept a disability pension. Life was difficult money-wise, and Eveline was happy to arrive at the end of the mortgage payments, only to find that the principal $10,000 had to be repaid. She had no alternative but to sell the house, which she had clung to, hoping against hope that life with Louis would again happen. There was no money over after the house sale provided just enough to pay out her debts. The next few years were a struggle. But after Louis died in 1974 and Eveline was accepted for public housing [a small apartment in Lalor Park], she was given a Veteran Affairs pension. Life became easier. Eveline obtained a Readers Ticket at the Mitchell Library and spent many hours researching the family tree, teaching herself to use the microfilm reels, index cards and microfilches. She had seen a good deal of Australia over the years, with trips on the Indian Pacific to visit her sister in Perth, to Melbourne, a tour of Tasmania, not to mention all the places in Queensland she had been to or lived in. She went to Darwin and to Kakadu. Now overseas trips started: there were several to New Zealand and she toured all of both the North and South Islands, including a visit to Stewart Island. China was visited on three occasions. There were multiple cruises, including the Queen Elizabeth II and other ships, trips to New Guinea, much of south east Asia and Western Europe and the British Isles. She kissed the Blarney Stone. In this golden period of her life there was fine restaurant dining, theatre and opera. The decline in health started when Eveline was 78 years old. Atrial fibrillation, heart problems, joint problems with both hips replaced and the right knee joint replaced, thyroid disease that needed daily medication, cataracts, with first one eye operated on and then the other. Eveline was able to bear all these with a cheerful outlook. Finally in her late eighties, bilateral macular degeneration struck. This made her life very difficult but she coped remarkably well, buying her food and cooking her own meals. A fall in February 2008 was the start of her final decline. This broke her femur near the left hip replacement. She recovered well from an operation on this, only to fall again and badly break her right leg, with the fracture involving the knee replacement prosthesis. While she was in hospital having this attended to, her wedding ring and her sapphire ring were taken from her apartment, a source of much unhappiness to her. Recovery this time was slow and marked by increasing pain and increasing difficulty in managing everyday life, particularly as her vision worsened. The stoke that carried her off was unexpected, but swiftly brought an end to her suffering.