MCRAE Donald Flattley VX27725 HQ Coy [J Force]

Vale Beth McRae (1926 – 2013)

Beth McRae, the widow of Donald McRae (VX27725) who served as a Corporal with the 2/29th and was a POW with J Force, passed away on 22 June 2013, suddenly, after a short illness. Beth and Don were strong supporters of the Association, which was well represented at the service conducted in St Columba’s Uniting Church, Balwyn, on 3 July. Tributes were given by Beth’s son Andrew and her daughter Heather.

Beth was born on 15 February 1926, the youngest of four children. She attended Ormiston, a small private school at Mont Albert, where she especially enjoyed sport, excelled at music, and in her final year was school captain. She studied piano at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and in the early 1950s at the Royal College of Music in London. She apparently never considered remaining in Britain, returning to Melbourne to teach music at Methodist Ladies’ College. Everything changed, however, with the onset of arthritis. Though she fought the disease, Beth had eventually to accept that she could not continue as a pianist. She nursed her mother through her terminal illness, and then retrained as a librarian, from 1961 teaching at Strathcona Girls’ School.

When Beth met Donald, he was in his 40s. Their uncertain health initially made them hesitate, but Don was sure about marriage. Uncertain of how many years they would have together, they decided to celebrate their anniversary every month, and managed to reach 100 before Don’s death in 1969. Not many couples, one anniversary card recorded, manage to reach 100!

Beth was determined that her children’s lives would not suffer as a result of their father’s death. She returned to teach part-time at Strathcona, managing and coping with both her professional and domestic life. Devoted to her two children, she ensured that they were well educated and supported. Heather recalled her mother as a very practical person, able to chop wood and lay a fire, and do the domestic tasks that had not initially come naturally to her. She managed her home and garden, her finances, and her life. She recovered from a serious accident in 1985, and in 1993 successfully downsized to a unit.

Beth had become a great traveller in England and Europe, America and Canada. She loved the natural world and its beauty, and became a keen and proficient photographer, her photographs appearing on her own greeting cards. She was also active in the Presbyterian/Uniting church, to which she had transferred on her marriage, figuring that she would find the move easier than Don’s transfer to the Baptists. ‘Her Christian faith was lived and living’: she spoke up at church meetings, and became involved in social justice work. Enjoying people and conversation, she made many friends. ‘We remember Beth,’ Heather concluded, ‘as wise, sensitive, generous, and loving. She learnt to live within her limits, and sometimes lived well beyond them.’

Many people, hearing of her death, spoke of her as ‘a special person’ and ‘a lovely lady’. Beth McRae’s grace and warmth will long be remembered in our Battalion Association.

John Lack