With strict Covid limitations in force, the funeral of one of Donald’s highly respected citizens, Gwen Anderson, was confined to members of her family.

At the graveside service conducted by Harold Flett at the Donald cemetery, heartfelt readings were delivered by two of Gwen’s granddaughters, Teagan and Rowie Anderson.

The following insightful details and recollections of a life devoted to family, friends and community, were presented by Gwen’s daughter, Glenda Kelly.

Gwenda Margaret Wood was born in Donald on Tuesday July 2, 1929. She was the second child and daughter of Walter and Maggie Wood, and was a sister to Maisie, Rita, Lindsay, Elvie, Don and Georgie. 

“Mum lived at Massey on the farm with the family and went to school there. She talked about school and her childhood a lot and the families and friends that lived near the Wood Family farm.

“She was a strong and healthy person as is testament to what she survived in her childhood. 

“In 1934 at the age of 4 years and 10 months she was operated on for appendicitis and was in hospital for 11 days.  At the age of 8 years and 4 months she had whooping cough and survived this. 

“Her first job was at the Newsagency and she earned 7 and sixpence a week. When the stocking factory opened in Donald they offered her a job earning more money- 12 and sixpence a week. The newsagent realised he couldn’t do without her and they matched the offer of money. She returned there to a job she really liked and continued working there after she got married. 

“In March 1954 she became engaged to Bill Anderson and they married on November 26th 1955 at the Presbyterian Church Donald. They had 3 children — Glenda, Kevin and Dale. She was a grandmother or Mama to her 8 grandchildren — Alyssa, Micaela, Kendra, Lucas, Teagan, Cooper, Rowie and Colby. She was a great grandmother to Ava, Alby, Alliahna and Seth.

Mum and Dad owned a number of businesses over the years and she really enjoyed the interaction she had with staff and customers. 

“They ran the Donald and Mt. Jeffcott Hotels, a Milk Bar which was the Early Bird Café, had a wholesale lolly truck that Kevin also worked in, she managed the Donald Motor Lodge for a few years, and their last business was the Donald Newsagency where she was the bookkeeper. 

Football
“Among Mum’s greatest interests were watching football — she loved going to all the Donald Football Club games. She was secretary of the Ladies’ Committee for many years until she and dad went into business. She was made a life member of the club. She made her veggie soup for the club for many years which was sold at the canteen to patrons at the game. I still make pots of this soup for my family. 

“Every Saturday Mum would make the thermos of tea and pack the food which was put into a basket to go into the car ready to take to the football. Like many people she would park in the same spot each week at the home games.

“She was an amazing knitter and knitted beautiful jumpers, cardigans and baby blankets. Some of these have now been passed on to her great grandchildren. 

“Mum loved attending the Donald Show every year and also enjoyed going to the Royal Melbourne Show on a few occasions. 

“Trips away to Horsham, Ballarat or Bendigo to do a little shopping was also something she enjoyed doing. 

“Nearly every Sunday for many years she would meet her siblings — all except Maisie, as she lived in Ballarat — for afternoon tea. All the nieces and nephews knew where to find them on a Sunday and would drop in to see them. Following the weekly afternoon tea they would then go to the cemetery to pay their respects to family members who had passed on.

“Family get-togethers at Christmas were also fun. The time spent with her siblings throughout her whole life was important to her. She also loved a good chat on the phone to her sister Maisie in Ballarat. 

Church and Band
“She regularly went to Church until she couldn’t attend due to business commitments, and later in life delivered the church tapes to the Goodwin Homes for a few years to residents there.

“She was a member of the Donald Pipe Band playing drums, and also played the piano accordion and organ. She loved music and listening to Slim Dusty, Reg Lindsey and Daniel O’Donnell. 

“Mum loved living in Donald, and never liked to be away from the town for more than a few days at a time. She would say she was homesick and just wanted to be at home. She enjoyed catching up with her good friends and family members regularly for a chat and/or morning and afternoon tea.  

“Like many ladies of her era, she had her hair done at the hairdresser’s every week and this was something she liked to do as well as the chat she would have while there. We know she loved having Colleen do her hair again at the J.G. Homes each week. She took pride in her hair looking nice.  We would like to thank Colleen for the kind way she looked after mum.

Family
The three of us have many memories of living behind the back of the Milk Bar for many years, followed by living out on Boak’s farm for 12 months while mum and dad built their home in Willow Court, Donald. Over the years I think Mum could have pulled her hair out a few times with our antics! Those stories are for another time!

“Mum always viewed animals as working stock, and didn’t always take kindly to us wanting pets, and didn’t understand why we would want animals around. She was just okay when I had my horses over quite a few years, and only just tolerated the dogs and cats we had in our childhood years. Later in life, when we would visit Donald with dogs and a cat in tow, she tolerated this, just! Secretly I think she only did this because Alyssa and Micaela were with us. 

“Mum was always interested in her grandchildren. They always had great fun playing dress ups with her old clothes, getting her to talk with her teeth out, playing on the water tanks and sneaking chocolates and lollies from her secret stash in the laundry cupboard which no one was meant to know about, but we all did. Micaela and Teagan were also known to hide in the pantry and then scare Mama.

“Mum also liked watching the soapies — or ‘her stories’, as she would say to her grandchildren. Many a time she was heard telling them to be quiet as her stories were on or when she was listening to ‘Australia All Over’ on the radio with Macca. 

“She derived great joy looking after her granddaughter Teagan, and was very close to Teags. This was a two-way relationship, because as Mum’s health was failing, and especially in the last few weeks of her life, Teagan regularly visited her and had talked with her about many things in her life. We would like to thank Teagan for all she did for her, and the daily updates I got in the last weeks of her life, when I was in Melbourne during Covid restrictions.

“Mum’s health deteriorated after a bad fall when she went out to get the newspaper one Sunday morning. She fell and badly broke her femur. She was taken to Ballarat by ambulance, spent 5 hours in surgery and had a long recovery from this. In fact she never fully recovered. 

“This was a trigger for other health complications and 4½ years ago she became a resident at the Johnson Goodwin Homes in Donald, where she was well looked after.  

“Sleep peacefully now, Mum. A long life well lived.”