Lucy Maloney

Daughter.

The video above was shown at the Memorial Service due to Lucy being unable to travel from Vancouver.

I first met Mum at the end of 1970 and was lucky enough to spend my entire childhood growing up in the same house in Brighton, unlike my own children, who have already been dragged around four different countries and moved around to seven different homes.

Although I was the perfect child, Mum suffered terrible hardship at the hands of my brothers. Before he was even born Nick caused Mum to stay bed ridden for two months I remember Mum investing in beautiful pink carpet for our house in Brighton, only to have a very young Nick break a dozen eggs open onto it. That poor carpet - I’ve never seen a woman purchase a rental property to move her son into as quickly as when one of Matthew’s violin students vomited all over it during a lesson.

Mum tried her best to steer us kids on the right path, but she wasn't often met with cooperation. Nick went through a smoking phase as a teenager and used to stand out the front of our house having a smoke in the street. Mum tried to tell Nick that it was an anti-social habit and Nick replied "You're dead wrong Mum, smoking's a very social habit - I talk to the neighbours far more often than the rest of you".

When we were growing up, I remember Mum and Dad being focussed on providing for us to the exclusion of very much else. Mum and Dad were the couple in their babysitting club that accumulated all the tickets because they babysat for other members regularly but rarely went out themselves.

We were very lucky to have such a supportive Mum. Although I remember getting the complete listing of the credit card statement every time I asked for money, when it came to pursuing our hobbies, interests and education, mum was always there with the cash, even though it meant taking strenuous positions in market research and teaching. Private schooling, music lessons, FLYING LESSONS!

Mum was a dedicated and passionate teacher, but she wasn't adverse to making the more laborious tasks more efficient. Dad has worked with computers since they filled a room and helped Mum by setting up a program where a wide variety of standard descriptions could be selected from when filling in report cards. My parents - on the cutting edge of computer automation.

Mum’s interior design training came in handy in designing Mum and Dad’s beautiful homes in Melbourne and Mt Beauty and our home in Melbourne. She was a talented artist and it was great to see her take up painting again after her retirement.

Mum was also a talented piano player and appreciated music very much. She loved going to St Andrews to listen to the church choir (which we three kids all joined at various times). She loved classical music and The Beatles. I do remember having a copy of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in our childhood home, but popular culture wasn't generally Mum's thing.

Mum was a very honest person. Brutally honest sometimes. I remember her being given a scented candle and saying to the gift-giver "I don’t like things with strong perfumes, why don’t you just keep it…" I was never left in any doubt about Mum's view of my evolving fashion sense.

I've definitely inherited Mum’s early to bed and early to rise tendencies. After a long day at school and cooking dinner, Mum would fall asleep on the couch in front of the TV and eventually be relocated into bed by Dad, who would then work at his computer for far too long into the evening.

Mum really loved socialising and entertaining. The cruellest thing about Mum’s illness was that it took away her ability to speak and eat - two things that enriched her life so much. There’s enough crockery and cutlery in Mum and Dad’s home in Mt Beauty to cater for about 200 people. I’m barely exaggerating.

Mum always wanted to retire to Mt Beauty because of her love of snow and skiing, its natural beauty and sense of community. Thank you to all Mum and Dad's friends in Mt Beauty for helping and supporting Mum and Dad through her illness.