LOCAL LIFE
Marjorie Vaux Douglass
in sculpture under master-sculptor and teacher , Tom Bass , and then spent another three years learning portrait painting .
“ In 1968 as the children got older , I needed to return to work so I applied to the NSW Department of Education .
“ I was shocked after I had submitted my details to the Director of Education who after reading my resume , shook my hand and welcomed me to the service .
“ Shocked because I was only enquiring as what I needed to do in order to be trained as a teacher .
“ He said , ‘ Don ’ t worry about that – you can gain it on the job ’.”
Three weeks later Vaux commenced 13 years of teaching at Canley Vale High , ending when she transferred to Windsor High in 1980 after the family had relocated to a riverfront property at Sackville .
The highly respected , nay , revered Vaux finally ended her illustrious teaching career in 1991 but not before another fabulous mural which is now located in the Old Windsor Library .
Her time in this place began in Melbourne on December 15 , 1924 , only a few weeks after her family relocated from North-East Tasmania .
After leaving high school , Vaux was recruited to the war-related workforce at the Munitions Supply Laboratories in Maribyrnong and later , the then 20-year-old found employment with a stock and station agent , travelling far-and-wide to the bush as a relieving agent .
At war ’ s end , Vaux was transferred to start a new position in Sydney where she was fortunate to be able to share a Rose Bay flat with older
sister , Dorothy .
Dorothy ’ s beloved Bill Menzies was among the 645 sailors who died when HMAS Sydney was sunk by the German raider , Kormoran , on November 19 , 1941 .
Soon after arriving in Sydney , Vaux enrolled in the Dattilo Rubbo Arts School where , over the ensuing four years of part-time study , she completed a course in Life Drawing and Oil Painting .
During the period , through a few of Dorothy ’ s friends , she met Leslie “ Stuart ” Douglass – they clicked from that first meeting and were married on March 24 , 1951 .
The couple settled in Dover Heights , Stuart working for Standard Telephones and Cables and Vaux found employment with accounting machine outfit , MGM .
Then along came the children – Kay , Grant , Bradley , Mark and Gordon who was born in 1959 – by that stage , the family was living on a small acreage at Hoxton Park .
“ It was a wonderful life our parents provided ,” explained Gordon during an interview following
Vaux ’ s 100th birthday party .
“ As well as mum and dad ensuring we all received a good education , we lived in a little paradise which
Vaux is all concentration as she speeds along the Hawkesbury River . She began water-skiing when she was 65 years old before hanging up the skis at 79 ! Wotta woman !
Vaux Douglass and her equally adventurous friend , Geoff Marlow , aboard a ship of the desert on a visit to Egypt . The pair had a big dose of wanderlust late in their lives and travelled extensively .
boasted chooks , cows , pigs , fruit trees and vegie patches .”
From the Douglass ’ home at Sackville , Vaux enjoyed watching water skiers on the Hawkesbury River and yep , you guessed it , she took up the sport at 65 and continued being pulled behind a boat for the next 14 years !
Vaux lost her beloved Stuart in October , 1990 , but she still lived at Sackville until 1998 when she went to live with her daughter , Kay , on the Mid North Coast .
Vaux joined the local Probus club where she met her “ great mate ” Geoff Marlow , a widower and “ gentleman with a great sense of humour ”.
The two “ besties ” over the following 13 years had a bad case of the wanderlust and enjoyed visiting many places including China , Russia , Japan , Alaska , the Middle East , Canada and all over Europe .
Vaux , whom Gordon describes as “ sharp as a tack ” shares her love around – living for a couple of months in turn with sons Gordon and his wife , Therese , at Pitt Town , Grant and Faranak at Cessnock and Bradley and Michelle at North Sackville .
“ Mum still has me gobsmacked with her ability to calculate numbers as fast with her mind as me working with a calculator – she ’ s just amazing ,” Gordon said .
Indeed , she is !
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THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR ! ISSUE 177 // FEBRUARY 2025 7