WAITE (NEE EMBREY), Patricia

Mum. Trisha. Nanna. Patricia Margarita Rosetta Embrey. Pat. We miss all of you! Sadly our time with you has passed. Now we must draw on our memories of you and carry these with us through the days and years ahead. We are so thankful for all of the wonderful times we shared while we had the opportunity. Memories of our numerous trips away: to the UK with dad, the many journeys to different parts of Queensland, to Perth, around country and coastal Victoria. Memories of our Melbourne adventures together: to the theatre to see Phantom of the Opera and the Seekers, to Andre Rieu and Carols by Candlelight in the rain! The fun: like joining your grandkids on the rides at Dreamworld and strawberry picking in Timboon. The laughs: the way your chin curled up when you giggled! Time in the garden: pruning roses, growing herbs and fruit, tomatoes and vegies. Time playing games: Scrabble, Billionaire and the Gambling Game. Time in the early years watching tennis and footy on the telly, then in later years taking you to the Australian Open and the MCG to watch our beloved Blues battle it out. Time preparing food and cooking meals together: your lamb roasts were legendary. Time anywhere, even the mundane times when life became more challenging as your health and home deteriorated with the passing years. Now it is time for you to be back with dad, your soul mate and protector, and, armed with our abundant cherished memories of the wonderful times we shared, that thought of you back with William again brings us great comfort. Rest in peace now dear mum. You did your best and you were always there for us. Thank you for everything. With love from your youngest child Janet, your son-in-law Rod Harris, and your grandchildren Stephanie, Timothy and Benjamin ❤️

About Patricia Embrey:

Patricia was born in January 1929 to an unwed Kathleen Margaret Embrey. Sometime after her birth, Kathleen placed Patricia in the care of the Sisters of Mercy, to be raised by the nuns at St Vincent de Pauls Girls' Orphanage, located in Napier Street, South Melbourne. While remaining emotionally distant, Kathleen visited Patricia from time to time, probably to pay the nuns for her keep. Neither Kathleen nor the nuns told Patricia that she was her mother - Patricia thought that 'Aunty Kay' was just a person who occasionally visited her. Patricia was led to believe that both of her parents had died in a car accident until a well-meaning and loving foster carer revealed to her when she was in her mid-teens that Kathleen was actually her biological mother. The identity of her father remained a mystery.

At 15 years of age, Patricia was required to leave the orphanage and find employment. She was now on her own and needed to support herself in boarding house accommodation. After working for Brown Gouge dry cleaners and then Edments the jewellers, Patricia enrolled in nursing training at the Queen Victoria hospital in Lonsdale Street. This change in path stemmed from her own health crisis - a close shave with an almost ruptured appendix ignited her interest in nursing.

It was while she was undergoing nursing training that Patricia met and fell in love with the handsome and witty Welsh immigrant, William James Waite. On returning to Chepstow after 6 years serving in the British Army, William became disenfranchised and determined to look for opportunities outside of the UK. With his background and skills in radio electronics, William was successful in obtaining sponsorship from the PMG to migrate to Australia to help build a telecommunications network in the post-war period. In William, Patricia found her soul mate. Like her, William was also born to an unmarried woman, Lily May Waite. Like her, he also had no knowledge of who his father was. William had some understanding his father served in the British Army and knew he was conceived during wartime in the early months of 1918, but that was about all.

Patricia and William were married in Parramatta NSW on May 16th 1953. In late 1959, they packed up their belongings and travelled back to Melbourne in their FJ Holden, with their three children David, Susan and Peter, nanna Lily May Waite and fox terrier Nip. They settled into a war service home in Hodgson Street Heidelberg where Janet was born in 1960, and which remained the family home for over 60 years. The four children all attended Banyule Primary School then Banyule High School, both walking distance from the family home. Pat and Bill worked hard to support their family as best they could. Pat worked night shifts at Elizabeth House, a private nursing home in Rosanna, while Bill worked his way up the ranks to end his career as factory manager for AWA Thorn located on Bamfield Road, West Heidelberg. They both enjoyed the social opportunities provided through the local Rotary Club in Rosanna.

In April 2019 at age 90 Patricia finally learned the identity of her father - Gordon Alfred Jessup - and met her two half-brothers Bert and Frank Jessup for the first time. Several years earlier Janet had encouraged Patricia to submit a salivary DNA sample to the online family history website Ancestry. A match resulted when Bert's two daughters did likewise. It was a highlight of Patricia's life to meet her brothers and their families. Bert gave Patricia a copy of Dawn Cowley's book 'Jessup. A Goldminers Legacy' which comprehensively detailed descendants of Edward Jessup and Maria Crack who arrived in Melbourne on 18th November 1853. In doing so, Patricia now had a much clearer sense of her own identity and a very clear understanding of the origins of her paternal family. It was a wonderful gift.

All Patricia ever wanted was a family of her own. Patricia met with her brothers on a couple more occasions before she collapsed and died of a cerebral haemorrhage on 26th May 2020. Patricia was cremated and rests next to her husband William within the grounds of Springvale Memorial Cemetry, Melbourne.