Page 4055 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 30 October 2013
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Midge was legendary in the Braidwood district—life member of the bowling club, the servicemen’s club and the hospital auxiliary. Dick told me that right until the end she had all her faculties and that her energy and enthusiasm were endless. Her card days were as legendary as her dedication to the daily ritual of attendance at mass. She knew everything and was at everything.
Dick tells me that his father, Alexander, took special leave from the Army during wartime to marry his bride. They were married at 7 am one morning, with a brief honeymoon in Sydney before duties of war resumed. When peace was declared, he returned home, and Mr and Mrs Stalker set up home in Braidwood.
But her life was not always rosy. She was widowed in 1954, when Alexander was electrocuted, with two young children to raise and with no breadwinner. She overcame this by taking in boarders to help make ends meet and she just got on with living life to the full. At 103, it was truly a full life well lived.
Her funeral was held at St Bede’s Catholic Church, Braidwood last Friday, with the mass delivered by her godson Dermid, who had only recently been ordained. Our condolences go to Dick and his sister, Marcia; his wife, Sue; his brother-in-law, Nick; and Midge’s grandchildren, Kim, Paul, Joshua and Matthew.
In closing, I would like to repeat the Irish blessing that was delivered by Dick in a eulogy to his mother, Margaret Claire “Midge” Stalker nee McDermott:
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind always be at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
May the rain fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
The Assembly adjourned at 6.26 pm.
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