Coral Joyce (Rechner) Lapidge (abt. 1920)

Born about 1 May 1920 in Henley Beach South, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Jack Stanley Lapidge — married 17 Oct 1953 in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Biography

Coral was the only child of Ethel and John Rechner and was born at the Crilarra Nursing Home at Henley Beach, a coastal suburb of Adelaide.

As a schoolgirl, Coral lived with her parents at Fullarton, a suburb of Adelaide, and attended the nearby Glen Osmond Primary School, after which she spent some time at the School of Arts and Crafts. From here, she studied shorthand, typing and book-keeping at Stott’s Business College in Adelaide and this enabled her to gain a position in the office of the Farmers’ Union Company in Franklin Street, Adelaide.

In about 1951, Coral travelled by ship to England. In London she and several friends shared a flat in Kensington near the Albert Hall, which was famous for its wonderful “Prom” musical concerts. Also near their flat was Kensington Gardens through which the girls loved to walk on fine summer evenings.

Coral was fortunate to find work in an office in the West End of London which was not far from her flat. On special occasions Coral’s employer allowed her to leave the office to witness parades and pageants, especially during the time of the Festival of Britain.

Coral’s trip to England was enhanced by a tour of Europe. She visited Switzerland, Austria and Germany where she found that the name Rechner was well known. She also spent three weeks in Holland, living with a family who enjoyed showing her the many beautiful places in their country. After fifteen months overseas, Coral returned home. Fifty years later, she still has contact with one of her flatmates, who now lives in America.

In 1953 Coral married Jack Lapidge in the Pirie Street Methodist Church in Adelaide. Jack, born in Adelaide in 1915, studied engineering in Edinburgh in Scotland for three years and also worked for a time in Newcastle-on-Tyne in the north of England. Returning to Adelaide with these qualifications, he was employed by the Electricity Trust of South Australia as an electrical engineer.

During the Second World War, Jack enlisted, in 1941, in the Australian Military Forces and, as S41944, joined the M.G.O. Branch Headquarters in Melbourne. In 1946 he was discharged with the rank of Captain.

Coral and Jack lived at Wattle Park, an eastern suburb of Adelaide. They had one son whom they named Anthony.
Coral continues to live in her Wattle Park home although Jack died in 1983.

In 2003, when Coral was reminiscing over her childhood days, she recalled that as a girl aged ten, she stayed with her Aunt Minnie at Grange. Minnie had two daughters, Vera who was Coral’s age and Dorothea, called Dot who was ten years older. Coral remembers being entranced by her older cousin’s beauty as she appeared in her long evening frock, ready to go to a dance.

A History of the Weidenhofer Families in Australia 1846 - 2004. Written by Wyn Allen (née Weidenhofer) 2004 ©.
Reproduced with permission of Stewart Allen, Barry Malcolm and Carlien Melrose.

This is a works in progress and any assistance with information or source details would be very much appreciated.

Sources

• Information taken from the Weidenhofer Database compiled from family input and research for the book “A History of the Weidenhofer Families in Australia 1846 – 2004© ”.
  
• Reproduced with permission of Stewart Allen, Barry Malcolm and Carlien Melrose.
  

South Australian Genealogy Index of Birth, Death and Marriage.
Birth
Date: 1920 - Name: RECHNER Coral Joyce - Father: John Lankin RECHNER - Mother: Ethel Linda HAMBLY - District: Adelaide - Registration No.: 56A/152
Link to Index'
South Australian Genealogy Index of Birth, Death and Marriage.'
https://www.genealogysa.org.au/resources/online-databases.html '

Further research is required to locate primary documents to satisfy Wikitree source standards.