Community News

In Memory

The School extends its sympathy to the family and friends of the following:

Beverley Stuart (Perry, Class of 1946) on 27 October 2016. Beverley was Dux of the School in 1946 and went on to complete her Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne. Upon graduation, she worked as a microbiologist with the Macfarlane Burnet Institute for 10 years. She married Bill Stuart, raised two boys, and went on to enjoy a long career teaching Biology and Science at Melbourne Girls Grammar.

Elizabeth Babouris (Tenny, Class of 1963) on 22 June 2021 in Athens. Elizabeth’s sister Angela Crossman (Tenny, Class of 1960) also attended the School.

Mary (Pam) Gillespie (Walpole, Class of 1950) on 21 March 2022. Pam was a boarder at Korowa.

Pamela Evans (Stratmann, Class of 1952) on 19 April 2022. Pamela’s sisters attended Korowa, Jennifer Hill-Wood (Stratmann, Class of 1955) and Julie Shiells (Stratmann, Class of 1958).

Alison Spicer (Tidd, Class of 1946) on 16 May 2022.

Patricia Anthony (Wragge, Class of 1945) on 16 June 2022. Patricia was a boarder at Korowa.

Cee-Ming Leung (Class of 1997) on 8 July 2022. Cee-Ming was Deputy House Captain of Clarke.

Julie Perry (Best, Class of 1966) on 18 July 2022. Julie’s sister Cheryl Randle (Best, Class of 1958) also attended the School.

Janine Morrow (Darbyshire, Class of 1975) on 22 July 2022. Janine’s sister, Gaynor Fox (Darbyshire, Class of 1977) also attended Korowa.

Alison Manning (Class of 1974) on 3 August 2022. Alison’s sister, Kate Stanford (Manning, Class of 1972) also attended the School.

Penelope (Penny) Hebbard OAM (Thomas, Class of 1949) on the 6 August 2022. Penny entered Korowa in 1939 and her sisters, Rosemary Davidson (Thomas, Class of 1948) and Lynette (Class of 1953) also attended the School. Penny left Korowa in 1948 to pursue a career in nursing. She resided in Canberra for many years and was a founding member of the ANU Club for Women. Penny was a committed Christian and became only the second woman to be licensed as a Liturgical Deacon by the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn in the late 1960s. She was very active in her local church and served on the parish council. Penny’s many years of service to the community were recognised when she was awarded an Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 1998. Her citation read: For service to the community, particularly through the ANU Club for Women, the Abbeyfield Society, the Anglican Church and youth organisations.

Sue Nattrass AO

Betty Crozier

Sue Nattrass AO (Class of 1957) on 23 October 2022. We were saddened to hear of the death of this distinguished Korovian. Sue’s interest in the arts had its beginnings at Korowa where she appeared in school productions and was introduced to the wonders of Shakespeare. Sue’s natural leadership abilities were recognised when she was appointed House Captain of Wilkinson in 1957 and Vice-Head Prefect of the School. At school, her strong desire was to study Medicine for which she was accepted, but as she was considered too young to enter university, Sue returned for a second year of Matriculation in 1958 and was appointed Head Prefect. She is the only student in Korowa’s history to have held both positions!

Sue forged a long and impressive career in arts administration and in 1988 was promoted as General Manager of the Victorian Arts Centre, a position she held with distinction until 1996. Under Sue’s leadership, the Arts Centre became the preeminent arts precinct in Australia and a much-loved Melbourne icon.

Sue’s mentoring of so many and her generosity of spirit have seen her name live on in various industry awards and a scholarship in her honour. Sue was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia in 2002 for her contribution to the arts.

From humble beginnings, treading the boards in the old Assembly Hall in Ranfurlie, Sue through a combination of courage, vision, hard work and passion for the arts, became one of the most honoured arts professionals in Australia. She personified the School motto ‘no reward without effort’.

Sue's sister Kay Nattrass (Class of 1960) also attended the School.

Phillippa Petty (Beauchamp, Class of 1953) on 27 August 2022. Phillippa’s sister Virginia Beauchamp (Class of 1952) also attended Korowa as did her daughter, Susie Lachal (Petty, Class of 1979).

The School was saddened to hear of the death of Betty Crozier (Lawrence, Class of 1938) on 23 November 2022.

Betty started at Korowa in 1927. Betty was our oldest Korovian having turned 101 in September last year. Her future husband, Rex Crozier lived in Dorrington Avenue and his three sisters all attended Korowa, as did two of his cousins.

Rex and Betty sent their four daughters to Korowa - Elizabeth, (Class of 1968), Pamela (Class of 1970), Jennifer (Class of 1972) and Robyn (Class of 1975).

Elizabeth subsequently sent her daughter, Katherine Kirkby, (Class of 1994) to Korowa. They all completed their entire schooling at Korowa.

The Croziers, like so many other families in our School’s long history, have had a multigenerational connection with the School.

The School was delighted that Betty was able to accept our invitation to open officially the Roslyn Otzen Sports and Wellbeing Centre in June 2022. After the opening ceremony, Betty had a great time catching up with so many people who knew her and her extended family. Betty’s long life was testament to her love of physical activity. The School was represented at her funeral.

Sonja Boyer-Smyth (Paten, Class of 1989) on 16 August 2022.

Chrystal Bam (Hann, Class of 1960) on 13 November 2022. Chrystal was a Prefect. Her daughter, Amanda Bam (Class of 1993) also attended Korowa.

Jenifer Alexander (Lyne, Class of 1958) on 29 November 2022. Jenifer was the mother of Judith Anderson (Alexander, Class of 1986), Kerry Alexander (Class of 1987) and Susan Alexander (Class of 1989). She was the sister of Beverley Balkau, (Lyne, Head Prefect, Class of 1963).

Kirsty Page (Smith, Class of 1980) has retired from Victoria Police and has moved to the Adelaide Hills with her husband. She is playing lots of golf and has plenty of postCOVID travel planned.

Joy Wahner (Joske, Class of 1946) loved attending Korowa and particularly admired her geography teacher Miss Jean Cerutty (years of service 1942 to 1981) and the Principal, Miss Margaret Dickson who was Principal from 1930 to 1949.

Congratulations to Tania De Jong AM (Class of 1982) on the recent world premiere of Driftwood – The Musical at Chapel off Chapel. It is based on the memoir of Eva De Jong (Duldig, Class of 1954). Tania was both the concept creator and lyricist. It tells the story of Eva’s parents, noted artists Karl and Slawa Duldig and their escape from Jewish persecution in Nazi occupied Vienna in 1938. It tells a story of love and loss, of resilience and dislocation, of the importance of the creative process and the eventual triumph of the human spirit. Tanya played her grandmother Slawa, with a poignancy that highlighted the inevitable toll the Holocaust brought to those who survived. It is hoped that the play will be staged in New York.

Belinda Luther (Munn, Class of 1988) has worked as a physiotherapist with children and young people with complex needs in a variety of settings for over 25 years. She was the first physiotherapist employed in a paediatric hospice in Australia, having commenced at Very Special Kids in 2017. In 2020, she was awarded the Dr Dorothea Sandars and Irene Lee Churchill Fellowship to investigate and implement best practice physiotherapy in Australian paediatric palliative care. This was presented to her at Government House. In May and June of 2022, she travelled to the United Kingdom and Ireland, visiting 12 children’s hospices, spending time with physiotherapists and other health professionals who are recognised as world leaders in this area of expertise. This proved to be a wonderful experience and Belinda is now beginning to share her findings from this Fellowship across Australia so children and young people with life limiting conditions receive individualised physiotherapy in line with best practice, to ensure they have the best possible quality of life, no matter how short that life may be.

found her career path. Her latest project has been as Production Designer in the recent sixpart ABC TV series ‘Significant Others’. Over the years, she has been involved in numerous other productions including Netflix’s Pieces of Her that starred fellow Korovian, Bella Heathcote (Class of 2005).

Frances Stovold (Kirby, Class of 1948) is now a resident at AgeWell in Box Hill. She is very fortunate to have her family living nearby so visits and outings are frequent.

Lorraine Nelson (Gray, Class of 1958) has returned to live in Melbourne to be closer to her family after 25 years of living in Sorrento. Her daughters both attended Korowa, Deborah Hill (Nelson, Class of 1982) and Melinda Wildie (Nelson, Class of 1984). Melinda was for many years a member of the Korowa staff.

Weddings

Megan Atkins (Tate, Class of 2009) married on the 5 February 2022. Her bridesmaids were fellow Korovians, Georgie Bagot, Aimee Whiteside, Bridget Sisson, all from the Class of 2009 and her sister, Ruby Tate (Class of 2014), the Master of Ceremonies was Bridget Aughton (Class of 2009) and guest Stephanie Swan (Class of 2009).

Nicola Boemo (Class of 2010) was married on 10 November. It was a very Korovian wedding. It was held at her parents’ property at Badgers Creek. Nicola’s mother is Alexandra Boemo (Ball, Class of 1978) and her sisters are Stephanie Boemo (Class of 2007) and Michaela Boemo (Class of 2013) who acted as bridesmaids along with Bailey Ryan (Class of 2010). Nicola described the wedding as ‘the happiest day of our lives. Lots of mud, trees, laughter, dancing and love’!

Honorary Korovians

Korovian Club Golf Day

Helen Ellis (McLauchlan, Class of 1953) writes ‘I just want to thank you and everyone connected with the Old Girls of Korowa for keeping me on your list and sending me copies of the Korovian magazine. I love to keep up with present day activities - I was a Probationer way back when... (I'm 86!!). I still have two dear friends I met at Korowa and although I live on the Gold Coast now and they are still in Melbourne we keep in touch regularly.

I've had a great life - lots of travel with my dear husband Russell, who passed away 5 years ago - and I still go to Greece most years to my second home in the pretty town of Parga on the west coast down from Corfu. I hope I can keep this up - despite my age, I'm still coping well. I've done a lot of writing - have 15 books on Amazon and do a bit of editing now for other writers – have to keep the old brain ticking over’. Helen is 86 years young!

Jan Edwards (Class of 1980) studied Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts and then moved to Sydney. After many years working as a Lighting Designer in the Independent Live Music Scene in Melbourne and Sydney, she found herself in the Art Department on a Film, “Love Serenade” and realised that she had

Bailey Ryan, Jackie Daggian, Nicola Boemo, Anna Hays, Jessica Peisley, Laura White and Steph Willox (all Class of 2010).

Former School Captain, Natasha Anstee (Class of 2006) married Katie Long in December 2022. In attendance were other members of the Class of 2006. Vic Shaw and Annabel Yencken (Martin) were bridesmaids. As Natasha stated ‘It was a fabulous day celebrating with friends and family. My partner, Katie and I are very lucky! It was special to have Korovians by my side on the big day’.

Congratulations to Leah Jing McIntosh (Class of 2009) who was awarded an OAM in the Queen’s

Birthday Honours for service to the arts as a writer and publisher. Leah is the

When: Monday 7 November 2022

Where: Frankston Golf Club

The Korovian Club was delighted to induct four new Honorary Korovians at the Annual General Meeting held in November. They now join the 92 others who have received this honour since the Club’s foundation in 1917.

If you are interested, for further details