Amy Pearse
OBITUARY
Born: 23 December 1905
Died: 15 July 2007
AMY Pearse, one of Avonsleigh’s longest living residents, will be remembered for her love of life.
The vivacious, 101-year-old died on Sunday, 15 July in hospital after contracting pneumonia.
In her final weeks, Amy, had been in and out of hospital after suffering from a minor stroke.
Her daughter, Maureen, said her body was just worn out and that it was her time to die.
Born Amy Kelly in Sterling, Scotland, in December 1905, she immigrated with her family to Australia when she was just six years old.
She grew up in Cobram in northern Victoria after her father was appointed as the congregational Minister for the town.
Amy was not afraid of trying anything new and even travelled bareback on the family horse every day with her sisters to Dookie, which was five miles away.
She proved early on in life that football wasn’t just for boys and was picked for the school team because there weren’t enough boys to field a full side.
Amy had no fear and even went so far as to learn how to kill snakes at an early age.
She and her sisters would hunt snakes by covering them and then hitting them on the head from behind.
When she was just 13-years-old Amy studied at Dookie Agricultural College where she learnt how to grow wheat and olives and how to make olive oil and how to farm pigs and cows.
Amy then attended the Presbyterian Ladies College in Melbourne before going on to study science at Melbourne University.
But what Amy really wanted to do was draw and following this dream she won a three-year art scholarship to attend RMIT.
It was then that Amy was introduced to Len Pearse, a man who would become the love of her life.
The couple was married in 1935 at the Box Hill Presbyterian Church.
Len was an ordained Minister and soon after their marriage he took up an appointment at the Congregational Church in Castlemaine.
The year 1935 was a big year for Amy, she not only got married and moved to Castlemaine but gave birth to her first child, Malcolm.
During her time in Castlemaine Amy’s passion to learn new things never wavered and she even attended metal work and carpentry classes, and learnt how to work the big weaving machines at the wool mill.
But it wasn’t long before Amy and her family were on the move again with Len being appointed as the chaplain for the Victor Harbour army base in South Australia where the couple’s daughter, Maureen, was born.
Amy always offered a helping hand and didn’t hesitate to become a spotter for the army base.
She would sit up at night to see if any submarines broke through the net in the bay and in her spare time learnt semaphore and Morse code.
Returning to Melbourne in 1945, the Pearses lived in Camberwell where their third child, Kevin, was born.
Approaching retirement, Len and Amy purchased land in Paton Road, Avonsleigh, where the family joined forces to build a home.
But sadly Len died before they could retire to Avonsleigh so Amy moved to the house in Paton Road alone where she stayed until her death.
And at the ripe old age of 74, Amy decided to learn to drive because the shops were too far away to walk to and she continued to drive until she was 94.
This pint-sized grandmother was full of energy and life and will be forever remembered as a groovy granny after the saying was posted on the front gate of her house.
Amy’s longevity has been attributed to the loving support of her children and grand children, her love of gardening, and her active church life.
