Kangaroo Valley VIEW Club was shocked and saddened by the news that our much loved President Penny Rose passed away in hospital in June. She was 84 years old.
Penny joined the Kangaroo Valley VIEW Club in 2015 and has been our President since 2018. She helped hold things together for our club throughout the lockdowns of the pandemic.
A private funeral was held for her by her family. In her life she had reared four children as well as running a nursery and hands-on involvement with their Pony Clubs. Ten members of Kangaroo Valley VIEW Club attended a Memorial function for Penny at the Berry Bowling Club.
Penny came to Australia from England when she was 19. She met her husband John in Sydney. For 20 years they owned and ran a nursery in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney. They moved to Berry about 1996 and started a new wholesale native plant nursery on the Woodhill mountain property they had purchased, while still keeping a nursery retail outlet in Heathcote. On this new property they also set up equestrian facilities.
I first met Penny at the Kangaroo Valley Golf Club social BBQ. Her husband John was a longtime President of the golf club and he was very proud of Penny. He told me when they started the nursery business it was the time when gardeners started planting Australian native plants in their gardens. There was not much information around about these plants. Penny enrolled at the local Technological College and gained a horticultural certificate. She became an Australian native plant expert and wrote one of the first books on the subject. Sadly John passed away a few years ago and Penny missed him terribly. Their son David now owns the retail nursery business.
In 2009, when Penny and John decided to give up running their wholesale nursery at Woodhill, they had a big plant sale. I purchased a number of native plants from the sale. The native plants are still thriving in my garden today (despite the rain).
Penny also loved horses and started her children on the equestrian trail, culminating in her son Shane becoming an Olympic Gold and Silver Medallist in the Teams Eventing Equestrian competition. He has competed in eight Olympic Games. The children started at a Pony Club in Sydney, and when Penny came to Woodhill she became involved with the Shoalhaven Pony Club and started a club at Woodhill. She was a tireless worker for the Pony Clubs and we heard at the memorial how she had probably put many of the equestrian champions on their first horse.
Penny was not a person to sit around and do nothing. At the age of 80 she joined the Berry Bowling club and learnt how to play bowls.
Kangaroo Valley VIEW Club offers our sincere condolences to Penny’s family and we all feel richer for knowing her.
We will miss her.
Our next lunch meeting will be at Maddisons on 12 August, at 11.30am – 12 noon
Gayle Rudd will be contacting all members by phone or email about the next meeting’s arrangements.
VIEW (Voice, Interests and Education of Women) is a leading women’s organisation with close to 300 clubs across Australia, all dedicated to supporting children in need with their education through The Smith Family. Members do this through community fundraising, spreading awareness, and volunteering.
To contact Kangaroo Valley VIEW Club please phone our Secretary Gayle Rudd on 0405 315 950.
Jeannette Dumbrell
