Today we laid to rest Uncle Reg (second husband of my mother's only sister Jean)after a long illness. Uncle Reg died a few days after his 91st birthday.
There is a wonderful true story attached to Reg and Jean which will grab your heartstrings and deserves to be shared.
Reg spent most of his family life in the Maitland area, however his early years were spent at Glenn Innes where he was born, Maitland & Guyra. He worked as machinery salesman & worked for the same company for 43 years. This work took him out to the rural areas some of which were Inverell & Barraba. This is where, as teenagers, Reg and Jean first met when Jean was working as a nurse. They were sweethearts until the war years separated them.
Reg enlisted in 1939 and joined the airforce at Gosford on the 29th April 1940 and served until his discharge on the 10th of December 1945 effectively serving out the whole of the 2nd world war.
Reg married Lorna Taylor and had a daughter Margaret who they unfortunately lost at aged 5. Lorna died in 1977 after 28 years of marriage.
Meantime Jean met and married Nelson Slade and had two children, Dawn & David (cousins that I am very close to).
Jean had become firm friends with Reg's mother and over the years kept in touch with Christmas cards etc.
As fate had it, Nelson passed away at much the same time as Reg's wife.
At loose ends, Jean decided to call in and say hello to her old friend and was surprised to find out from her that Reg was now alone in the world.
A romance sparked from there and Reg married his sweetheart Jean in 1978 at age 62 with all the family's blessing. (Photo attached)
They both shared many interests and loved gardening and lawn bowls & showed great talent in both areas.
They were devoted to each other until Jean's death in 2003.
What a lovely story! Fate does work in strange ways.
Reg today was described as "Natures true gentleman" and I agree with that.
Reg often rang, even when he was not well himself, to enquire after Mum & also attended our family special occasions such as birthdays and Christmas.
He was a loving and caring person and will be sadly missed by us all.
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