Page 7 - Lansdowne Gardens Newsletter Spring 2019_FINAL

7 LANSDOWNE NEWS, SPRING 2019

Happy Birthday

We wish the following residents
a very Happy Birthday:

September

4 September Maureen

4 September Andrew

6 September Margot

8 September David
Lansdowne Gardens resident, Ethelle Bennett
24 September Anne S.

24 September Lorna

27 September Russell Meet Ethelle Bennett
29 September Nola
Ethelle Jeanette Bennett is an extraordinary woman ‐ a loving wife and
October mother, an immaculate homemaker, gifted gardener and brilliant
1 October Jasmine academic ‐ an inspiration to her children.
1 October Ella Ethelle (also known as Thel) was born in Newcastle during the war
years and learned to be resourceful and to value the simple things in
18 October Mavis
life ‐ especially the importance of family. Her name was French and
rhymes with Belle rather than Ethel ‐ she has spent much of her life
18 October Shirley
spelling it for people! She was a brilliant student at Newcastle Girl’s
November High School and was offered a Commonwealth Scholarship to
University. Instead she became a Dental Assistant and met her
1 November Margaret C.
husband Dr Andrew Bennett in the dental chair! They started a family
6 November Margery straight away ‐ she had three children when she got the vote at age
21, and had five children by the time she was 26 years old.
8 November Wendy
Always a dedicated and busy mother she made all her children’s
8 November Ethelle clothes, toys and somehow managed to have an amazingly
immaculate home and garden. She was a full‐time mother and wife
10 November Henry
until all the children were in school. She then learnt short‐hand (a lost
11 November Jean C. art), did a secretarial course and was a medical receptionist for about
15 years. At a mature age she finally enrolled at Macquarie University
15 November Stanley where she completed her Bachelor and then Masters in Clinical
Psychology. At the age of 58 years she was awarded her PhD with
ground breaking and highly cited work on the impact of post‐traumatic
stress syndrome in gut function.

She loves to be useful and busy. At Lansdowne she continues to be
generous, warm and caring to everyone she meets ‐ she makes you

feel special because you are to her.

Her research has really made a difference, but she would say her
biggest achievements are her children ‐ and her 64 years of marriage ‐

an exceptional partnership with Andy. Everyone who meets Andy and
Thel cannot miss their devotion and deep connection. A true
achievement of enduring love and two lives well shared.

My Mum is an inspiration to me every day and I am proud to say both
my parents are my heroes.

By her loving daughter ‐ Christine Bennett.