Eulogy

Written by Penny Lambert

On a spring afternoon at 2.30pm, on the 6^th May, 1930, in the Red Cross Maternity Unit in Hay NSW, Dawn Maree Ireson was born.  She was the elder daughter of Reuben & Iris Ireson who lived at “Wongalea”, Hay.   The family was complete 5 years later when Dawn’s sister, Colleen was born.

In 1935, Dawn at 5 years & 9 months was sent to a small prep school called ‘Branksome’ in Leura.  This allowed her to see her Mother, who had not long contracted TB & was a patient in the TB Clinic in the sanitarium there, every Sunday.    Interestingly, Dawn’s future Mother-in-Law, her Mother-in-Law’s sisters and cousins were some of the school’s first pupils.  Colleen joined Dawn at Branksome in 1941, her last year there.

In 1941, at the age of 11yrs, Dawn, along with the much younger Colleen, continued their education at PLC Goulburn instead of PLC Pymble.  This was to escape the chance of bombing in Sydney in World War II and 5 Japanese Midget subs had been found in the harbour.  Their holidays were full of riding horses & cooking with Aunty Em.  Dawn always played the piano and she with her cousin Eric, who played the clarinet, played the intermission music at the Booligal Red Cross dances in aid of the war effort as relief musicians.

In 1945, when Dawn was in her 4^th year of high school, she was notified that her mother, who had suffered the effects of TB for 10 years, was dying.  So, with her sister Colleen in toe, they got a taxi to take them the 530km home.  Unfortunately, they got their 30 minutes after their mother died.

When she finished school Dawn had a year at Wongalea home.  Then it was onto live with her Grandparents where she was kept busy helping out on the Station. The next step on Dawn’s journey was to move to Sydney to start nursing at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. She left after two years to look after Mrs Macpherson, family friends from home) who had broken both her arms and had very small children.  The Macphersons happened to live in the vicinity of Cowan Downs near Mount Hope, where the Wallace Family resided.  She had previously met Ian Wallace at the Hillston Picnic races.  So this move was probably motivated by a physical attraction between the two of them because next thing they were engaged.

During these years, Dawn was considered a bit wild.  She was always up for a dare and was into having fun, lots of fun.  Any antic, she was in boots and all.   There was one particular time in which she enrolled Joy, the youngest of Ian’s sisters into one of those antics.  This one involved a dare, a bet, keeping a straight face and a 6 mile ride in a very unusual taxi all while keeping a straight face, ending at the Hillston Picnic Races.  (Not the same as the above mentioned one).  When Dawn & Joy alighted from the taxi, one of the mothers was heard to say, “Dawn & Joy have gone too far this time!”

However, she did win the bet!

Dawn & Ian were married on the 7^th March, 1953.  As a newly married couple they lived at “Wongalea”, had two children, boys, David & Jock (Andrew); then moved to “Coan Downs” had two more children, girls, Penny (Penelope) & Manda (Amanda), ending up at “Dromore”, which was 15 miles out of Cooma on the Canberra Road, in 1958.

Each promotion with the Pastoral Company for whom Ian worked, was followed by a move.  So, in 1962, possessions were boxed up, the bags were packed and along with the cat, Gee Gee, the family moved to “Wingadee” which was a 150,000 acre sheep & cattle station 30 miles from Coonamble.  Despite a 4 year drought during this time, Dawn loved her time here.  She & Ian did a lot of entertaining and Dawn rose to each occasion with ease and grace.  While Dawn was at Wingadee, she created a beautiful garden around the homestead.  She created garden beds, planted trees and laid lawns that took almost a day to mow with a normal mower.  This job, she delegated to one of her boys.  One thing she really wanted to create was a cottage garden with roses, although the landscape could be harsh.  As usual she won!  It even included stocks which smelt heavenly. She made a lot of friends during those years which she held dear for a lot of her life.

In 1970, Ian was promoted to Area Supervisor and with it, was the family’s final country destination.  The station was “Quabatho”, which was located 50 miles west of Coonamble.  The entertaining continued!

In 1972, the company decided it was going to move in another direction, and the decision was made to sell all their pastoral holdings.  Moving forward required making big decisions for the family which resulted in major changes, in the lives of all family members.

So, for a family who had lived the major part, if not all of their lives in the country, a long way from a street light, the decision was made to move to Sydney!  In January 1973 it was off to Church Point, an idyllic spot overlooking Pittwater.

What was Dawn going to do now, after all, she was not one to sit around and twiddle her thumbs.  She signed up for the Receptionist’s Centre 6 week course.

So, with her Receptionist Centre Diploma in hand, Dawn set out to get a job.

Dawn joined Constable & Bain on the 7^th October 1972 as a Pool Typist.

The following is a word for word reflection from one of Dawn’s work colleagues, of her experience with Dawn;

“So many memories come flooding back of Dawn.  She was a huge presence throughout her working life with us.

I first met her in 1972 (think that’s the correct year!) when she came to Constable & Bain for an interview for a clerical job.  I was working as Tom Synnott’s secretary so I did the interview.  Keeping in mind that there was a 20 year age gap between her and I – it went like this:

Me:  So where are you from?

Dawn: Well, I started my life in Hay.

Me:  (not knowing any place outside of Sydney) Do you mean like in a barn?

Dawn:  No Dear – that was baby Jesus!!  I mean the Hay Plains.  It’s a place!

Well, we both fell about laughing.  I felt like she should have been interviewing me!

Anyway I asked her could she type.  NO, she said.

Guess you don’t do shorthand then?

No, she said but I can write very fast!!  And I always do my best to learn anything I need.

That was it.  She got the job and so began a wonderful friendship not just for me but for the hundreds of people who came through Constable & Bain, Bain & Company and then Deutsche Bank.

We called her Mother.  Everyone called her Mother!

She settled in fast.  She taught most of us about good manners and the correct way to act and in return we taught her how to drink!

She was right, she could turn her hand to just about anything and she did it with style and without complaining.  She was hilarious on the switchboard and if someone was rude she just wouldn’t put them through.  “They can ruddy well call back when they learn some manners she’d say”.

She covered many roles but one we all loved was when she decided to become our tea Mum.

She would rattle the trolley as she walked into the dealing room yelling “I have good things!”

The first thing all the boys did was take their feet off the desks.  She just wouldn’t give you tea or coffee if you didn’t and boy, watch out if you had an untidy desk!

We were all on level 13 of Norwich House in Bligh Street.  The Partners, Boardrooms, Dining Rooms etc were all on level 14.  Most of us were not welcome there.  However, they found out that Dawn could cook so she got promoted!

Her life upstairs became very different.  All of a sudden she was mixing with the rich & famous and cooking lunches with the chef, preparing the tables and clearing the tables as clients finished.  It went very well – she became pretty confident mixing with the CEO’s of most of the large companies. So confident in fact when Kerry Packer came for lunch he left his vegetables on the plate.  As Dawn cleared it away she commented “you’ll never grow into a big strong lad if you don’t eat your vegetables you know”.  Apparently he laughed!  The Partners nearly fainted.  She was also most unhappy another time he came in, in spite of our office then being Non Smoking, they opened the balcony doors so Kerry could go out to smoke!  She hid the ashtrays!

She was renowned for remembering birthdays!  Didn’t matter who it was, there was a treat for you that day.

Over her years at Bains she got to know so much about so many people (good and bad!).  I always said to her she should write a book.  She said “Oh Darling – I’d end up in jail”.  She was probably right!

She had everyone’s back.  She celebrated with us and cried with us, she was always there in some form.

There were so many very good & great things but also tragedies over those years but she always encouraged us to face them head on and was a great example to us “youngsters”.

I think the words “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going” were written with our beautiful Dawn in mind.

From all of us who shared those years, Thank You Dawn.  We love you.”

“Our friendship just grew from the very first day.  We had some great times at Bains.  One of the classics uttered by Dawn was her lamenting that she didn’t have any grandchildren, well that was certainly rectified in time.”

 

“Dawn has been so much a part of my life. All the time our friendship grew stronger and stronger”

 

“So sad to lose such a powerhouse of a friend.”

 

Dawn got the job of Boardroom Catering Supervisor because she quickly let them know they were spending way too much money on catering from the Wentworth Hotel. Her boss asked if she could do it any better, to which she replied, she certainly could.  Later Dawn won a corporate catering award.  On reflecting about her experience in Bain’s Boardroom, she said that over the years those same people she served in the boardroom had become Zion’s of industry in the CBD.

Dawn confided, “the friends I made at Bains, I have kept to this day & whom I loved dearly.”

An end of an era, for Bains anyway, came on 28th February 1999 when Dawn retired!

Dawn had moved into James Milson Retirement Village a couple of years earlier in October 1996, so it was now time to plan for her retirement.  First, it was the ‘dream tour abroad’ – The Loire Valley, Paris, Scotland, England & Wales.  On her return, needing to organise something, she began organising bus trips each month with other JMV residents.  She went on interstate trips with friends, including a 14 day stay in Tassie.

Dawn joined the Grandparent Association which looked after the welfare of children in hospital.  She looked after babies whose parents were unable to be there full time.  In 1997, she started at Royal North Shore Hospital as a Ward Gran.  For years babies she looked after sent her cards at Christmas time.  Mothers whose babies had died too sent cards.  Receiving these cards touched and absolutely thrilled her.

Dawn joined the Telecross Program which involves ringing ‘People at Risk’ at the same time each morning providing a link and to make sure they have actually made it through the night.

In 2002, Dawn joined the Lantern Club in Mosman.  The purpose of the Lantern Club is to raise money for blind & deaf children.  In 2018, she was bestowed with Life Membership of the Royal Institute of Deaf & Blind Children.  She held the position of Vice President from 2008 – 2010.

“She worked tirelessly for the club in carrying out ‘manual labour’ and raising funds.

Raffle tickets.  This was her specialty!

“She sold tickets for both our raffles – Mothers’ Day and Christmas – at Mosman shopping centre and James Milson Retirement Village. Two members manned the table at Mosman and it was always fun to be with Dawn as she left no passer-by in any doubt, who we were collecting for.   At James Milson, her plan was to wait until ‘happy hour’ in the early evening and after the residents had had a couple of drinks, she would then ‘hit them with her selling pitch’ – this was very successful and she always sold all her tickets. The Staff were not safe from her selling skills either, some buying a whole book at a time’.

Dawn was always ready to be involved in any outings we had to the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children, (RIDBC) at North Rocks and enjoyed being able to see the children for whom she worked so hard.  She showed great delight in seeing the Choir whenever they performed at a function.

Dawn was a very interesting lady and would often delight us at meetings with her reminisces of life in the country.”

Other activities that Dawn held dear were the ballet, opera, Symphony Recitals, Chamber Music and she attended almost every Symphony & Opera in the Domain.  She said that her music and her books had given her the greatest pleasure over the years.

In the last two years of her life, Dawn became very adept at using a Samsung tablet.  Initially there was some push back in her introduction to the digital world.  After all, she had spent a lifetime successfully avoiding using digital devices. That is, until this point in time.  However, with the onset of Covid19 and James Milson’s strict restrictions, contact with the family was restricted.  Then, there was the cancellation of her 90^th Birthday Celebration which was replaced by a party of 3 & a Zoom Party for the rest of the family.  It was this particular event which really created the lifeline to the family and brought about her addiction to her tablet.

Again, sadly, our second attempt to mark this special occasion, which was to be a ‘Roast’ was also cancelled with this latest Delta variant lockdown.   She loved the idea of everyone enjoying the telling of the funny stories that definitely filled her life.

Dawn pleasantly surprised us all – such was her determination to reach out and keep in touch.    She became skilled at using the tablet to FaceTime, text & communicate with the whole family.  She so loved watching the videos of the littlies playing and becoming more and more stable on their feet.  In the last few months, Gran took to wishing everybody good night via the tablet.  

Dawn even Zoomed into Rotary presentations in Melbourne when her son in law, Adrian, was presenting – mostly forgetting to mute of course!  – (we have all been guilty of that at some point!)-  However, she made the effort – that was our Dawn – Our Gran.

“I have made many friends here at James Milson and have kept them to the end.”

“I have always considered I have lived a blessed life, and have had the greatest pride in my children and grandchildren.”

Dawn was loved by so many and gave of herself so selflessly, to her family, her friends, and so many less fortunate.  Dawn lived life to the full, and departed this life, on her own terms, in her own way, with ease and grace.

I would like to sign off by reading a poem, a favourite of Dawn’s that was plucked of her fridge in these last few days. 

An Irish Prayer

May God grant you always
A sunbeam to warm you
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel
So nothing can harm you,
Laughter to cheer you,
Faithful friends near you,
And whenever you pray,
Heaven to hear you!