Jack Clifford Mathewson
11.5.1918-23.9.2012
It has been a sad time farewelling both of
my grandparents from the Mathewson side of the family this year. Dave and I had the opportunity to watch
my Grandpa Jack’s funeral service via livestream in September. So many wonderful memories we hold with
these two very special people, who set such a powerful example for us of
faithfulness in marriage.
When we were living in Liverpool earlier in
the year I received news that Grandpa Jack had set aside Grandma Bet’s
engagement ring for me. I was
blown away to receive such a small but extremely significant piece to remember
Grandma by. This ring represents
71 years of faithful marriage.
Times that included years of separation due to war, times filled with great
joy, family, work, Welsh choirs, cricket matches, vegetable and rose gardens, saos and vegemite with a cup
of tea in bed every morning, crosswords and so much more.
My Uncle Andrew delivered an amazing eulogy
of which I will add a few of the memorable quotes to give you a small snippet
of this amazing gentleman and his wonderful wife of 71 years. A good innings!! - m
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“Dad
must have had a prodigious cricketing talent. He also practised relentlessly to
place shots to hit targets positioned around his tennis court. He even used
hand clippers to trim the lawn edges to strengthen his wrists for batting. As a
twelve year old he was selected in the Queensland Schoolboys cricket team to
play NSW and Victoria in Sydney playing on the hallowed turf of the Sydney
Cricket Ground.”
“In
June, 1940, Dad asked Mr Rogers for permission to marry his daughter. He
borrowed one of Mum’s brothers’ milk trucks and off to Webb Park where he
proposed with these words, ‘How would you like to marry an Aussie?’ They
couldn’t marry until she turned 21 and so, five days after this birthday they
were married in the Toowoomba Congregational Church, Hume Street. That was 71
years ago on the 15th of March, this year. They
arrived back from their honeymoon to their rented house in Stuart Street to
find Dad’s call-up notice in the mail box. Mum only got to see Dad for very
short and rare visits while he was based in Australia for training before being
sent to New Guinea for three very long years. Dad wrote to Mum daily for the
entire time they were apart and Mum did the same. Dad
was sent home for six weeks to recover from dysentery and malaria. He had lost
a lot of weight and Mum made it her ambition to put a pound a day on him. They
had six wonderful weeks together with Dad being fed huge servings of steak and
dumplings before having to go back to Bougainville. No wonder when Dad returned
unharmed they remained inseparable.”
“Dad
never made a fuss of any of his achievements and tended to downplay everything
that brought attention to himself.
Just reading some of the stories that Dad wrote I was unaware that as
Southern Cross was involved in armament production and as an essential war
industry, Dad could have remained in Australia, but he chose to do his bit and serve overseas in the
front lines. He was mentioned in Dispatches, an award
usually given for some form of bravery, but when quizzed on what he was awarded
it for, his response was always, ‘For being a good boy.’”
“Dad
had amazing self-control. I’ve never heard him swear or even shout in anger. I
remember him standing by a substantial brick pillar at his home in Stafford
when the back of the caravan clipped the post fracturing it at the base and
toppling it over. Dad’s foot was clipped by the very end of the pillar slicing
off the end of his shoe like a knife and… the end of his big toe. With tears in
his eyes all he could say was,’ Holy Smoke!’ But as we treated him there was
never a complaint. Boy was he tough!”
Two special guys that celebrated the same birthday, 11th May. Toby and Great-Grandpa Jack |
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