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OBITU ARIES OBITU ARIES

refined Melbourne accent. Eggy didn’t suffer fools. She might
Meredith Fraser Creightmore (1955) Mary Patricia Eggleston (1947) raise one eyebrow, and this was not a good sign.’
10 April 1936 – 23 February 2024 25 January1926 – 9 May 2024 The College acknowledges, in sympathy, those deceased
Mary returned to Australia in 2001, after 50 years in the UK. alumni of whom it has become aware since the previous
Meredith Creightmore (or Mary Eggleston had a long and In retirement, she was a voracious reader, energetic traveller, edition.
Merry to her closest family outstanding teaching career in friend to all dogs and wildlife and tireless volunteer worker – Together with the accompanying obituaries, the
and friends) was a trailblazer the UK. She was a formidable driving for the Royal Societies for the Blind in the UK and later College has also learned of the following deaths in our
in her professional life, a teacher and a lifelong learner. Australia, and working in the archives at Burnley Horticultural community:
devoted daughter and sister, As her first headmistress College.
and a treasured and loyal identified: ‘Teachers like Miss Throughout her life, Mary was a vital member of her extended
friend. She was also a generous Eggleston are rare.’ Australian family, with strong connections to her six siblings Camilla Fligelman (Chance 1959)
philanthropist and donor to and their families. She lived life with optimism and curiosity and 2 March 1940 – 4 May 2022
the arts. Mary grew up in Melbourne in
the midst of a large family and independence to the end.
Meredith and her identical twin the disruptions of the Great Sarah Stephen Pamela Larritt (Oddie 1962)
sister Diana were born in 1936 Depression and the Second 12 August 1943 – 10 May 2023
in Perth under the original family name of their architect father World War. Her unusual path to the classroom was shaped by Friend
Augustus (Gus) Kreitmayer. With the onset of WWII imminent, these times and reflected her intrepid nature and passionate
and correctly anticipating anti-German sentiment in Australia, curiosity about the natural world. Valerie May McDowell (Bendle 1945) Gwenneth Marian Vaughan (1949)
Gus changed his surname by deed poll to Creightmore on 31
March 1939. Mary spent her final school years at Fintona Girls’ School, 30 July 1927 – 9 October 2024 19 December 1928 – 28 June 2023
where she was Head Prefect in 1943. Here she was fortunate
Meredith was the most senior ranked woman in her branch to encounter the new Principal, Margaret Cunningham, a Valerie Bendle was born to
in Australian Defence Intelligence during her service from the progressive thinker in girls’ education who became a lifelong Myrtle and Albert Bendle Robin Mary Villwock (Izon 1953)
1960s to the early 80s. She chose to retire early after the office friend. Cunningham quickly recognised Mary’s ‘outstanding in Geelong, Victoria. She 25 November 1935 – 08 January 2024
was moved from Melbourne to Canberra, so that she could gifts as a natural leader’ – a case of mutual recognition between attended The Hermitage in
remain in Melbourne with her beloved mother, Isobel, and her strong, independent women. Geelong, finishing in 1944 as
twin sister. Diana, too, was a successful, independent woman Head Prefect and Dux of the Helen Margaret Allnutt (1960)
who became the Deputy Manager at the Menzies Hotel and ran In 1944, Mary started a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at the School. 14 April 1942 – February 2024
her own catering service in South Yarra. University of Melbourne and stepped into a very different
world. This included a year in residence at the Dookie She studied for her BA,
Meredith was a director on the Board of the Lyceum Club, a Agricultural Campus, where she appears in photos as the only majoring in Maths, English and Elizabeth Caillard (1954)
Life Member of the Lake Karrinyup Country Club in Perth and a woman in a sea of men in tweed jackets. Education, graduating in 1948.
longstanding member of the Victoria Golf Club in Cheltenham. While still a student she met 24 March 1935 – 20 May 2024
She and Diana were the most loyal and devoted friends one In 1947, she spent her final year in residence at Janet Clarke Hall, Christians at the Evangelical
could hope for, taking an interest in the lives of their friends and where her older sister, Joan, had also been a resident and was Union and was inspired to commit her life and work to Jesus.
family, always offering generous hospitality in their home in Senior Student in 1946. Mary was a talented sportswoman and After graduation she taught Maths and English at various Lucille Elizabeth Voullaire (1963)
Melbourne and their lovely log cabin at Launching Place. earned a University Blue in baseball and selection in the State schools, including The Hermitage. 10 October 1944 – 28 May 2024
baseball team.
My mother and aunt, who arrived in Perth as stateless migrants In 1953, Valerie married Ian McDowell whom she had met in her
from Europe in 1950, lived opposite the Creightmore household On graduating, Mary took the bold step of taking up a three- JCH days when he was a ‘neighbour’ at Trinity. A year later they Anne Hignett (1963)
for almost a year and were immediately befriended by Meredith year position in Papua New Guinea as an Agricultural Welfare welcomed their first child, David, who was soon followed by Joy 5 December 1944 – 12 June 2024
and Diana before they returned to Melbourne with their Officer, preceded by five months training at the Australian and then Michael.
widowed mother. They remained lifelong friends of my mother School of Pacific Administration. As PNG emerged from the
and aunt, befriending our extended families as we travelled war years, her diary records that she was: ‘travell[ing] widely In 1961 the family moved to Sydney and Valerie taught English Margaret (Peg) Lade (Webb 1947)
around the world. through the Territory, studying the medical, social and and Public Speaking at Emmaus Bible College. It was in Sydney
educational work of the Australian mission … [b]roadcasting in in1964 that her fourth child, Paul, was born. For the following 28 July 1928 – 29 October 2024
They loved and supported all the fine things in life – from food local dialect on agricultural matters’. decades until 1987, Valerie taught scripture in the local schools
and wine, opera and ballet, to the footy (AFL), though to the and also travelled Australia with Christian Women’s Conventions
best of our knowledge they never had ‘a team’. In 1951, Mary left PNG and set off for London and a career as a International (CWCI) as a Bible teacher and speaker. Jane Anketell Carnegie (1964)
teacher, specialising in zoology/biology. From her first entry to Valerie and Ian moved back to Melbourne in 1984 where Valerie 24 December 1945 – 14 December 2024
A tribute to Meredith would not be complete without a the classroom at an inner London comprehensive school, her taught in schools, served on the Board of the Bible Society and
reference to her immense pride in her great-aunt Vida Goldstein passion for teaching was clear: ‘the lives of many young people ran a ‘Know your Bible’ group in her home for more than 30
and grandfather, Maximilian Ludwig Kreitmayer. Goldstein, an with whom she has worked have been entirely changed and years.
Australian suffragist and social reformer, was one of the first for their good’. From 1956 to 1962 she was Biology Assistant
four female candidates at the 1903 federal election, and the Mistress and House Mistress at the Royal Merchant Navy School, Following Ian’s passing in 2008, Valerie embraced overseas
Bayside Melbourne electorate of Goldstein is named after her. Bearwood. It was here that she met Phoebe Fox, a lifelong travel for the following decade, often with her daughter.
Kreitmayer arrived in Australia in 1856 and was the celebrated friend and partner in adventure. In 2024, following a major operation and a serious infection,
founder and proprietor of Melbourne’s first waxworks, and Valerie’s life ended quietly. In her own words, ‘What a privileged
creator, among other things, of the Ned Kelly death mask In 1963, she took up the position of Biology Mistress at St. life I have led! All the way, my Saviour led me.’
displayed at the old Melbourne Gaol. Catherine’s School, Bramley, Surrey. She later became Head of
Science, a position she held until her retirement in 1985. Mary Joy Cooper
Martine Letts had enduring friendships with many students. Former ABC Daughter
Family friend journalist Ticky Fullerton was one of them. She wrote of Mary:
‘She was known to all as Eggy, whether you were in her class or
not. No other teacher at school or university had any impact on
me at all. Eggy changed my life … Eggy was Australian with a

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