Beth Adeline Overend

I've noticed some websites have listed my mother Beth as Elizabeth....it really annoys me. Her birth name is Beth.

I cannot give much information on my mother as I dont have any adult memories of her, being 12 when she died. What I do remember is she had rough hands and was a great cook. My two favorite things she made were vanilla slices and these tuna mornay vol-au-vents (which she handmade the pastry for). She also had a wicked sense of humour. I remember her warmth.

I remember she worked as a cleaner part time for Kew Cottages with a neighbour at one point when we lived at Surrey Hills, Vic.

The really happy wacky funny times she had were with a bunch of ladies from an indoor bowling group in Camberwell. They often did luncheons and I remember pretending to come home sick so I wouldn't miss out. She used to call me her little so and so.

Mum was also a great sewer and sewed clothes for herself and all her daughters as well as their dolls.

Her life was quite hard. There were relationship issues with my father and he was absent some of the time.

My oldest sister bought a house for us all to live in at Hawthorn. This gave more security to my mother and I believe her last days were more peaceful. She died suddenly (either Stroke/Aneurysm) after climbing down from a ladder where she had been helping to sand wood for renovation of the house.

Her funeral was at Springvale Crematorium and her ashes were scattered on the Scatter Garden. There is no plaque.