Eulogy for Marie Guinane

The following is a copy of the eulogy read by Gary Guinane at Marie's funeral on 19 Oct 2020.

MARIE THERESE GUINANE was born in Rockhampton on the 28th July 1934 the 2nd daughter of Frank & Jean Close. She was one of 12 children born to them.

Marie was educated at St Josephs School Park Avenue and Dingo State Schools. Most of her childhood was spent on the family dairy farm at Dingo where Marie and her siblings carried out various chores associated with life on a farm including hand milking the cows twice a day.

The family were told various stories from this time including Uncle Mick falling off the back of the milk cart and she drove off thinking he was mucking around but later found out he had really injured himself badly also riding a horse to go to school and always running late for class.

The family later moved to 8 Buckle Street Park Avenue but Marie stayed on and worked as a governess on Mckenzies "Alsace" Station in Dingo. On returning to Rockhampton she worked as a cadet nurse at the Mater Hospital where she nursed a certain Kevin Guinane. We don't know if was love at first sight but it certainly blossomed into love for life.

They married on the 6th November 1954 and set up home at 12 Harbourne St Koongal and went on to have their 6 children Gary, Karen, Jenny, Kevin Jnr, Trevor and the baby of the family Carmel.

As you can see by the size of the brood Maries life was mostly then spent as a mother and home carer. Marie and Kevin's family was quite often extended when various nieces and nephews came to stay whilst their parents convalesced at the local hospitals.

Once the majority of the family had left home Marie, Kevin and Carmel spent as much time as possible travelling around Australia and Carmel had a holiday at Auntie Carols place whilst they visited New Zealand.

The family grew once more when grandchildren started to arrive, 12 in all. Marie enjoyed helping with babysitting whenever she was needed and loved the large family gathering for birthdays and at Christmas. Marie was envious of her siblings that had great grandchildren and told us she was going nowhere until she had some of her own, She was overjoyed when her own arrived and now there are 12 in all. Some of the happiest times of her life were the time she spent with the family and its a wonderful testament to her that all of her grandchildren are in attendance today.

Sadly Kevin passed in 2007 and Marie relocated to 102/19 Schuffenhauser St where she spent the rest of her days. Unfortunately the last 18 months of her life was plagued by on going health problems, the last of which results in us all being here today.

For the last days of her life Marie was surrounded by many members of her family and passed away peacefully in the early hours of the morning of 13th October.

The family would like to express their gratitude for the care given to their Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother by Doctors Hendricks, Rau and Koudri and the nursing staff of the Mater hospital, Bethany and OZ Care.