Eulogy
Lucinda Durnin ( Written by Taysha Sullivan )
Valerie June Stevens was born on December 6 , 1944 in Narrogin and was stoic from the start . Born premature to parents Teresa Alice and George Percival Stevens , Valerie was sent home in a shoebox and baptised four days after she was born amid concerns she may not survive .
The younger sister of Sheila , Beryl , Norma , Bill and Fid and the older sister of Terry , Val ’ s childhood memories are rooted in spending time with the family she loved so much – a love that would continue across marriages , deaths and generations . As the youngest daughter , she was also spoilt rotten by her Mum , Dad and sisters , a fact often pointed out by her brother ’ s in law .
Some key highlights from her youth included winning a cup with ‘ polly put the kettle on ’ during her first-year sports day , being the captain of Red , playing ladies basketball ( netball ), going on the bus from Narrogin to Highgate to sing at the Perth Town Hall , winning an art of speech certificate , reading whatever she could get her hands on and marching in the opening ceremony of the 1962 Empire ( now Commonwealth ) Games .
When Val was in Year 5 , she met her best friend Glenis . A lifelong friendship , Val recalled many childhood memories with her best friend Glenis including pulling faces at her in class while Mother Paul was facing the blackboard to make her laugh and get in trouble , and getting a new bike from her sister Sheila and Uncle George , only to collide with Glenis on the way to school and bending it . Most upsetting .
Anywhere Val went Glenis went , and vice versa . Post-schooling , this included travelling to Melbourne to train for the Missions , then onto Broome , and later settling into forever homes around the corner from each other with husbands who worked together at the airport , and even having their children in the same order , two girls and a boy .
A friendship spanning over 70 years , Aunties and Godmothers to each-others families , and always by each other ’ s side through good times and bad , theirs is a friendship - a sisterhood - we can all only aspire to .