Community News

Marriages

Elisabeth Leska (Steckner, Class of 2008) was an exchange student from Cologne in Germany in 2007/2008. She went on to study engineering and now works in Stuttgart at Bosch. In September 2021, she married Robert Leska, who is also an engineer.

Births

Elspeth De Fanti (Coker, Class of 2002) and her husband, Adrian, welcomed a daughter Fenella Elsie Fern De Fanti on 10 September 2021. A sister for Isla and Raffi.

Meaghan Bruce (Class of 2000) and her husband Mark Turner welcomed their daughter Sophie Margaret on 21 August 2021. A sister for James.

In memory

Sandra Cockburn (Class of 1978) on 28 April 2019. After a career at the NGV, Sandra established Sandra Cockburn Art Services where she specialised in conservation framing, and frame restoration and conservation for artists, private collectors, art galleries and public collections.

Judith Blogg (Hollinshed, Class of 1945) on 27 February 2020. She married Barry Blogg in 1960 and went to live in the PNG highlands for 25 years. Barry grew coffee and Judith taught and then worked as the Highland’s correspondent for the Nation’s Daily. She published a book – Innocence to Independence under her maiden name in 2004.

Anne Marrie (McKinley, Class of 1950) on 17 January 2021. Anne went on to Invergowrie and then trained as a mothercraft nurse.

Naomi Aldous (Prowd, Class of 1946) on 5 March 2021.

Sandra (Sandy) Richards (Hattam, Class of 1955) on 24 April 2021. Sandra’s sister, Leonie (Lee) Carmichael (Hattam, Class of 1957) also attended the School. Sandy’s grandfather founded a store in Walhalla during the gold rush days then moved to Malvern where he had a store in Glenferrie Rd. Different members of the family had a number of stores around suburban Melbourne.

Helen Coles (Wilkinson, Class of 1961) on 5 May 2021. Helen resided in Sydney. She did her entire schooling at Korowa.

Robyn Lipscombe (Skippage, Class of 1967) on 20 May 2021. Robyn’s twin sister Jennifer Scholz (Skippage, Class of 1967) and Elizabeth Cawsey (Skippage, Class of 1964) also attended the School. Robyn was tragically killed in a traffic incident in Alfredton, a suburb of Ballarat. Robyn had lived in Alfredton for over 20 years and leaves behind her husband of 48 years, Stephen, two children and five grandchildren. As Elizabeth writes, ‘Robyn was a caring, kind, gentle and friendly person who lived for her family. She will be sadly missed by us all.’

Jennifer Houston (Leng, Class of 1959) on 25 May 2021.

Judith Bickford (Hardy, Class of 1948) on 3 June 2021. She taught Oboe in the Music School at Korowa in the late 1960s. Her daughters, Sue Reavley (Bickford, Class of 1971) and Jenny Walsh (Bickford, Class of 1973) also attended the School.

Roslyn Holmes (Doherty, Class of 1967) on 6 August 2021. Roslyn’s sisters Marcia Fielder (Doherty, Class of 1964) and Leisa Reynolds (Doherty, Class of 1974) also attended the School.

Susan Ploog (Ludbrook, Class of 1962) on 17 August 2021. Susan’s daughter, Sophie Barrett (Ploog, Class of 1991) also attended Korowa.

Margaret Jansen (Smith, Class of 1951) on 5 September 2021. Margaret’s sister, Patricia Sinammon (Smith, Class of 1945) also attended Korowa. This photograph shows Margaret with her sister on her first day at Korowa.

Pamela Seligmann (Vial, Class of 1960) on 6 September 2021 in Perth. Pamela’s sisters Elaine Hall (Vial, Class of 1955) and Ruth Stewart (Vial, Class of 1966) also attended the School.

Janet Henderson (Bilsborrow, Class of 1952) on the 15 September 2021. Jan was Clarke House Captain in her final year. Jan came to Korowa in 1951. She went on to become a nurse and then retrained to become a Librarian. Jan was so proud when her granddaughter, Anna Larsen (Class of 2010) was enrolled at Korowa and Anna’s mother Libby Larsen, is a former member of the ELC staff.

Valerie McCausland (Crosby, Class of 1950) on 19 November 2021. Val did her entire schooling at Korowa. Her daughters Pamela Allan (Heath, Class of 1973) and Robyn Heath (Class of 1977), and sister-in-law Mary Crosby (Atkinson, Class of 1950) also attended the School.

Val was Vice-Head Prefect and Captain of Wilkinson in 1950. She had fond memories of her school days and regularly kept in contact with her school friends. Val represented the School in sport, in particular the tennis team. She continued to play tennis into her 80s and won two medals in World Masters Games.

Valerie Miles on 19 October 2021. Val was a highly respected and dedicated member of the Korowa staff from 1970 until her retirement in 1997. She was a much-loved Geography teacher. From 1981, Val was Vice Principal and served under three Principals: Miss Beatrice Guyett, Miss Margaret McPherson and Dr Roslyn Otzen. She was Acting Principal in 1990 due to the illness and subsequent death of Miss McPherson.

Val loved Korowa and upon her retirement donated the Valerie Miles Medal that has been awarded since 1997 to the best all-rounder in Year 12. In recent years, Val resided in a nursing home where she lovingly kept two mementos of her time at Korowa – a quilt made for her by the staff upon her retirement and a ‘Korowa Cat’ that had been signed by the Year 12s of the Class of 1997.

She looked forward to receiving the Korovian magazine and took a lively interest in the School. Past and current members of staff attended the Memorial Service for Val including Korowa’s Principal, Mrs Helen Carmody and former Principal, Dr Ros Otzen.

News

Bonita Gardiner (Class of 1963) retired from teaching after a career that started in 1965 and finished with 17 years as a casual relief teacher. She has lived on the Mornington Peninsula since 1981 and has three adult children, five grandchildren and one great grandson. As Bonita says, ‘life has been wonderful, much travel overseas, a boatshed on the Dromana foreshore and a very special 60 year friendship with Jill Shelton (Howard) (Class of 1963). I am one fortunate person.’

Rhonda Wilkinson (Wood, Class of 1971) retired in 2021 after 43 years as a lawyer and having run her own legal business since 1982. She is now enjoying mentoring young female lawyers.

Leah Jing McIntosh (Class of 2009) had the great honour of interviewing Pulitzer Prize winner, Viet Thanh Nguyen at the Melbourne Writers Festival in September 2021.

Congratulations to Miriam Stanborough (Lyons, Class of 1991) who has been appointed to Pilbara Minerals Ltd Board as a non-executive Director. Miriam has had 20 years’ experience in the mineral processing industry. Her other current Board roles include Chair of the Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia (MRIWA), Deputy Chair of the Northern Agricultural Catchments Council (NACC), and Deputy Chair of Scouts WA. She also sits on the Independent Assessment Committee for the Federal Government’s Boosting Female Founders Initiative.

Jennifer Elliott (Class of 1974) after finishing HSC in 1974, Jennifer completed a Bachelor of Science and a Post Graduate Diploma in Dietetics at Deakin University. Her areas of interest have been Type 2 diabetes/insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. She published a book, Baby Boomers, Bellies and Blood Sugars in 2011. Jennifer has an online program for managing Type 2 diabetes with a low-carb approach. It can be found at eattobeatdiabetes.com.au

Kay Steer (Lynch, Class of 1964) is a retired primary teacher. She has three sons and seven grandchildren and has been very happily married for 50 years.

Jan Weir (Horwood, Class of 1960) attended Korowa from 1948 to 1959 and loved her time spent at the School. A student from the Canberra Art School, she has exhibited in galleries around Australia and has had exhibitions in London and Shanghai. Although she lives inland, Jan’s great love is to paint the sea – from Rosedale on the South Coast of NSW to the dramatic beaches of Eastern Sydney and the Mornington Peninsula beaches of her childhood.

Sue Alcock (Clark, Class of 1962) retired as a Behaviour Consultant in 2006 and sold her Kayaking Eco Tour company in 2007. However, she is still involved in kayak activities, mainly in skills training and organising kayaking camps in Australia and overseas. In 2021, she worked with the Sunshine Coast Council designing a playground area on Kawana Island. Sue writes, ‘I am fit and well and enjoying life. All the best to my classmates.’

Jan Brown (Kennedy, Class of 1956) really enjoyed her time at Korowa and sent both of her daughters to the School – Sally Allardice (Brown Class of 1983) and Larissa Langley (Brown, Class of 1985). Jan worked as a bookkeeper and in her spare time studied singing as a mezzo soprano and made the semi-final of the Sun Aria in 1964, the year Dame Kiri Te Kanawa won it, so Jan feels the judges made the right choice! Jan joined the Savoy Opera Company and now sings with the Melbourne Singers. Jan is a great friend of Sue Hollingworth (Turner, Class of 1959) and, for some years, they ran the Bass Coast branch of the Korovian Club.

Leonie Kaiser (Soutar, Class of 1957) wrote a heartfelt message to her classmates, ‘The copies of the Korovian are eagerly scanned for familiar names that are forever etched on my mind. I think of my school friends very often and with great fondness and even more now with the passing of the years.’

Genevieve Hansford (Down, Class of 1951) trained as a Home Economics teacher. She taught for 34 years and was an Acting Deputy Principal for some time. In 1984, she returned to study and gained a degree in education. Although she is retired, she still maintains an interest in education.

Tamara Schindler-Hands (Schindler, Class of 1983) is married, living bayside with her four children. She is currently the gardener at MGSC and the family vineyard.

Kristen Mellett (Gay, Class of 1988) is currently working as a paediatric dietician with another Korovian caring for children with renal failure. Dr Lilian Johnstone (Class of 1979) is the Head of the Nephrology Department at Monash Children’s Hospital and the two have worked together for the past 20 years.

Congratulations to Elisabeth Lenders (Ford, Class of 1979) on receiving an Order of Australia Medal in the Australia Day Honours for her service to education. Elisabeth was Head Prefect in her final year and always wanted to be a teacher. She has had a distinguished career in education in some of Melbourne’s leading private schools and leadership roles in organisations including the Women Educators’ Network and as President of Centre for Strategic Education, an organisation that leads educational thinking and practice through professional learning and publications. She has been Principal of Kingswood College since 2011.

Elisabeth attributes her love of learning coming from her family, but also as she states in her Korowa years, ‘there were many remarkable role models at Korowa who shaped my thinking, philosophy and perspective….’

She feels enormously grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute to a better future for young people through the power of education to transform lives.

Thea Harker (Class of 2010) graduated from the Police Academy in September 2021 and was awarded the Angela Rose Taylor Award, which is presented to the graduate from each squad who receives the highest scores in academic attainment.