Page 28 - The Outdoor Showman January - March 2022

Greta Osborne (cont.)
ride and their clowns and forged made many strong friendships along the way.
Two of her closest friends were Barbara Pavier and June Lynch, they maintained regular contact with each other, right up until both these women went into care and now sadly passed, Barbara was her main travelling companion when overseas travel beckoned.
On some overseas trips Greta would faint and not wake up until the plane landed ...so she used to brag to Barbara how short the flight was!
When John passed away in 2008, Greta missed him more than words could express.
Greta was always well groomed, she
did her makeup and hair as soon as she got up in the morning ...she was proud
of how she dressed, in fact she has a wardrobe of dresses some the same, but in different colours, with shoes, handbags, necklaces all to match, Greta recently attended a Melbourne cup luncheon where she was awarded the best hat,
her smile lit up the room and her win
was wildly celebrated by all her friends.
Fred Skinner became a close friend after John’s passing and became a travelling companion to Greta and helped look after her home doing all the odd jobs around her home and helped her
family whenever asked. Greta’s family have been very grateful for his support over the last few years, especially when they had to go away to work.
Greta was an incredible knitter and
also did crochet. Greta was given a certificate for donating bandages to the Leprosy Foundation for many years ... the bandages she made were reusable and washable and were a big hit because of the bright colours she chose.
Greta loved her home, and she
was staunchly independent, she remained in her own home until her illness saw her taken to hospital.
The last two years has been very difficult for her family since Covid, she was unable to get up to Queensland, which she did for three months, every year, usually in the winter, she loved this time, not only did she catch up on seeing Lewis and Leonie, her grandchildren and their children, she also caught up with her many friends.
There were daily, sometimes four or five a day, phone calls, which kept her in contact with the family news and gatherings and her many friends.
Luckily lockdown softened earlier this year and Greta was able to celebrate her 90th birthday, not with just one party, but two, one up at the Nelson Bay Carnival with all
her showmen friends and family where she became famous and had lots of media attention on screen and in print, for the irreplaceable Mrs. Clown.
Then there was one at Les and Britts with all of her Stockton friends from her View Club and Rotary Clubs
for a sumptuous High Tea, she was so proud and overjoyed at both of these special occasions. They made her feel very special, very blessed and loved. These are now precious memories for all who attended.
Greta will be remembered as a loving, fierce and determined personality
who protected her family like a lioness, Greta had a great sense of humour, often quirky and hilarious. Not long ago while she was lying in bed, she looked up to see nearly all of her family around her, her comment was mmm looks like I’m done for... cause you’re
all here!... or when asked to smile for a photo, she played dead, as only Greta would...Britt asked her how she was feeling, Greta’s response was “nothing that a good flogging wouldn’t fix”!... she had the gift of the gab, which comes from years of spruking on her Clown joint and loved to chat with everyone.
Greta wasn’t known for her political correctness, she called a spade a spade and usually voiced her opinion to the person it was directed at and God forbid if you swore, or used the word “guys”, if she didn’t like the way you looked, she would tell you and you were never offended. Above
all, these traits she was formidable, lovable, loyal, strong, and stoic she was a multi-facetted diamond.
The stories of John and Greta’s life could fill a book, Greta was the Matriarch of what is now a large family she will be greatly missed by her sons, Leslie and his wife Britt, Lewis and
his wife Leonie, her grandchildren Daniel, Annika, Lyndsay and Lauren. She has 9 great grandchildren as a piece of her will live on in each of her surviving family, she is now reunited with the love of her life John in the biggest showground in the sky!
Finally, as Greta would say ... PUT THE LIPPY ON GIRLS!!! By Lewis Osborne
26 THE OUTDOOR SHOWMAN