Vale Joan Goldney: never one to complain and always guided by her faith

She is being remembered as a loving mother, grandmother, sister, dedicated community member, a woman with a strong faith - the kind of person who opened her home to family, friends, and strangers.

Mrs Goldney was born in Adelaide on February 16, 1942. Her parents lived in Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills.

Her father, Jack Chapman, was a leading businessman in the town, and his wife Rita, a full-time stay-at-home mother.

Mr and Mrs Chapman's passion for croquet resulted in their four children regularly sitting on the sidelines of various croquet lawns, learning to entertain themselves, with Mrs Goldney taking on the responsibility of caring for her youngest brother, Colin.

Mrs Goldney excelled at her studies in primary and secondary school, and was also an exceptionally talented sportswoman, with a love of running and basketball.

At age 16, Mrs Goldney was employed in the family business. At age 18, she and future husband David Goldney began courting.

Mr Goldney was the son of the local Methodist minister.

At age 18, Mrs Goldney announced to her family that she wished to pursue a nursing career in Adelaide.

Her parents objected strongly, but relented with a parting comment that she would be back in the family business within three months.

She wasn't and graduated from her arduous four-year course while working full-time as a trainee nurse at the Adelaide Hospital.

Mr and Mrs Goldney married in March, 1965, and Mrs Goldney continued her nursing career.

In 1968, Mr and Mrs Goldney made the joint decision for him to take up a Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue a PhD in plant physiology at the University of Queensland.

This meant living on the breadline for four years.

Neither of their parents thought that this was a good decision, but the young couple were following their dreams.

Their two children, Alex and Jodie, were born in Brisbane.

At the completion of his studies in 1972, Mr Goldney accepted a position as a lecturer in science at the newly formed Mitchell College of Advanced Education in Bathurst.

Mr and Mrs Goldney saw this as a short-term stay before eventually returning to Adelaide. However, they would be together in Bathurst for 50 of their happy 58.5-year marriage.

Mrs Goldney, whilst a full-time mother, also engaged in community life, for the first time taking up squash, part-time work with the Blue Mountain's Nursing Service, significant involvement in the local Methodist Church, volunteer work in the children's pre-school kindergarten, in the Bathurst Primary School, as well as restoring their beloved terrace - Red Ruth Villa.

She spent endless hours with her children encouraging their learning, their imaginations, and their spiritual growth.

Significant numbers of children were welcomed by Mrs Goldney, firstly from the Bathurst primary school across the road and then from the Bathurst High School.

For some, it was virtually their second home.

Mrs Goldney's parenting skills were exceptional loving and imaginative, punitive punishment abandoned for rational discussions with both Alex and Jodie as to how they might better take responsibility for their own behaviours.

Both Jodie and Alex subsequently confided that when other children were disparaging of their parents, they were not.

The family home was open to all and sundry.

Mrs Goldney was an accomplished cook and could throw together at a moment's notice tasty meals that would compare with restaurant fare.

Over the years, hundreds of people came through the Goldney home, including recently released prisoners, Bible study groups, Sunday School children, the Methodist Church's Couples Club, complete strangers, close friends and visiting relatives.

Recently, several young people have related to Mr Goldney his wife's acceptance of them, and for the first time experiencing a loving home atmosphere, which changed their lives.

In 1978, the couple made the decision for Mr Goldney to take study leave, combined with annual holidays and unpaid leave, purchasing around the world tickets.

This enabled him to increase his understanding of the teaching of environmental science in field study centres primarily in England, Scotland and Wales.

Alex was then 10 and Jodie six.

The family travelled as backpackers with too much luggage, via Mauritius, Kenya, Israel, Greece, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, USA, and Fiji.

On their second last flight, the family slept the night in the Fiji airport having run out of money, before arriving at Mr Goldney's brother's home in Brisbane.

Mrs Goldney's organisational skills shone through, taking responsibility for the children's schooling when her husband was engaged in professional activities.

She arranged an amazing series of educational experiences for Alex and Jodie.

When Alex went to university in Sydney aged 18, Mrs Goldney began working at Homecare as an administrative assistant morphing into a full-time role as a coordinator (1986-2005).

She often went the second mile.

On several occasions, Mrs Goldney was contacted by the police late in the evening to help calm one of her Homecare customers.

When Mr and Mrs Goldney became grandparents, Mrs Goldney turned their home into a wonderland, a magical space that catered for each of her four grandchildren's special interests and inclinations.

Mrs Goldney was a committed Christian and actively engaged with local Christian communities, taking on leadership roles as well as growing her own faith.

About 10 years ago, her husband became her carer as crippling rheumatic arthritis increasingly took a toll on her ability to move.

She accepted with good grace the circumstances that engulfed her.

Mr Goldney never heard her once complain about her situation.

She was a woman without guile, never gossiped, saw the good in people she interacted with rather than the bad, never sought to manipulate people, was extraordinarily generous to the poor and the needy in her church and the wider community.

Mrs Goldney's last three months were spent in hospital and Riverview Care.

She never complained, and regularly expressed her love for her immediate family, and sought to shield them from any pain or suffering that she was experiencing.

Mr Goldney, Alex, and Jodie were at her bedside when she died on October 1, 2023.

Her memorial service in the Bathurst Uniting Church was attended by a wide cross-section of the community celebrating a life well lived in service to others undergirded by the Rock of her Salvation.

The poem below, written by family friend Wyn Jones, is a celebration of her life:

Joan - pure gold

As the mist drifts

And cloud shifts

Move past us,

The spirit of life

Blows away on the wind,

As vespers flow from the heavenly choirs.

The music never really stops,

The players change,

Some depart,

Others join to restart,

And we, we who are left,

Can surely attest,

To the beauty her life has been.

We, we shall now go on,

We shall Celebrate her song.

For we are her choir.

Sing, sing her song of life.