OBITUARY
Beverley May Hobson (nee Huntingford)
Born: 7 May 1945
Died: 9 February 2013
BEVERLEY Hobson, or Aunty Bev as she was more commonly known, will be remembered as a well-loved, kind and generous woman who loved her family and friends dearly.
Bev had a number of nicknames, from Bevie, Nana, the Bride (from her husband Colin) and was well-known across the swamp.
Family friend Peter Duff read the eulogy at the service at the Catani Recreation Reserve on Friday 15 February.
He said Bev was born on 7 May at Kooweerup Hospital and she was one of two children.
Bev and her sister Lynne were raised by their father, Albert Huntingford, who worked as a milk truck driver when they were living in Bayles.
And, as the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child and there were countless family members and locals who helped Albert with the girls.
“This was the way in small communities in those days,” Peter said.
“It was, maybe, in these formative years that Bev developed her sense of family and community and caring for others – qualities that she displayed throughout her life.”
Bev was a local girl through and through.
She attended Bayles Primary School and Kooweerup Secondary College where she excelled at tennis, swimming and diving.
She loved to holiday near the sea and loved tennis.
She met her husband, Colin, at the Catani Tennis Club but it would be at the Bayles Factory Ball that they would formalise their courting.
After three years of courtship, they married at St George’s Anglican Church in Kooweerup in 1966 and settled in Drain Road.
When the couple had children Geoffrey, Craig and Karen, it was Colin who was the disciplinarian.
“Bev preferred to give them good news,” Peter said in the eulogy.
“You only had to listen to her talk about her children to know how much she loved them and how proud she was of each of them every day.”
Bev was on the ladies committee of the Catani Football Club as well as treasurer, secretary, assistant treasurer, canteen secretary, “jumper number sewer on-er” and first home gate-keeper.
She had a real passion for the club.
But Bev was also active in the wider community and worked as a social worker. She could always empathise with people and was no stranger to adversity herself.
“Throughout her journey, Bev was supported by many people – those bubbly, energetic and somewhat crazy girls that Colin calls his sisters,” Peter said.
“Bev’s was a long and tough battle with illness, it was fought with character, dignity and determination.
“She was a wonderful lady.”
Another family friend also spoke at the funeral, and said that ‘Uncle Col’ would be well-looked after by the swamp community.
Her daughter Karen spoke about an inspirational lady who would give away her last dollar “in case you needed it”.
“An irreplaceable person in the eyes of her husband and children – she was our rock,” she said.
– DANIELLE GALVIN
