Audrey Allison (Waddell) Patchett (1924 - 2016)

Born 1 Jul 1924 in Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Ancestors

Wife of Garth Patchett — married about 1949 in New Zealand

Died 17 Mar 2016 at age 91 in Waikanae, Wellington, New Zealand

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Biography

Audrey Allison Waddell was born on 1 July 1924 at Auckland, New Zealand. She was the daughter of Cyril Richard Waddell and Clarissa Hickton.

She grew up at Te Aroha, where her parents ran a bakery.

Before WW2, she worked at Kingseat Hospital in Auckland.

During WW2, she was in the Women's Auxilliary Army Corps Radar from 1942 to 1945. After training at Papakura, she was posted to Motutapu/Rangitoto Radar Section and then Trentham Military Camp Army Ordnance as a telephonist. She reached the rank of lance corporal.

After leaving the Army, she became a telephonist at the Taupo Exchange, where she met Garth Patchett. They were married around 1949, and had at least two children.

She became a librarian at Taupo Nui-a-tea College, and was also the Dominion secretary of the New Zealand Water Ski-ing Association. On 27 October 1965, while she was away with the ski team at Surfer's Paradise, the family's home in Rawhiti Street, Taupo, was destroyed by fire.

After the fire, the family moved to Paekakariki. She volunteered at Paekakariki School and established the school library. She worked as a librarian for the Wellington Education Department and later for the S.I.S., until her retirement.

She passed away on 17 March 2016 at Waikanae, aged 91.

Sources

• New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages search for birth reg. 1924/28392, Audrey Allison Waddell, parents Clarissa and Cyril Richard.
• Wilson Collection search, marriage in 1949 of Audrey Allison Waddell and Garth Pratchett.
• Press, 28 October 1965, Page 4, Girls Escape From Fire via Papers Past, on 27 October 1965, the home of Mr and Mrs Garth Patchett, of Rawhiti Street, Taupo, was destroyed by fire; two of their children and two friends [named] escaped unharmed; Mr Pratchett, a senior audit inspector with the Post Office, was on duty at Tauranga at the time of the fire; Mrs Audrey Pratchett, Dominion secretary of the New Zealand Water Ski-ing Association was at Surfer's Paradise acting as chaperon with the ski-ing team; numerous souvenirs of her trips to the Pacific Islands and Australia were destroyed.
• Taupo Times, 22 April 2016, Steve Edwards, Anzac Day special for servicewoman via pressreader.com, Audrey Pratchett died peacefully at Waikanae on 17 March [2016]; born in Auckland on 1 July 1924; former Taupo woman; served in the Army in WW2; from a family of distinguished service personnel; granddaughter of W. R. Waddell, Mayor of Auckland from 1883 to 1885, who created Albert Park; her father was Trooper Cyril R. Waddell, who sailed from Napier to the Boer War in South Africa and also served in WW1; he and his wife Clarissa set up a bakery in Te Aroha, where Audrey grew up; her brother Sergeant Douglas C. Waddell service in Israel and Italy during WW2, he was killed on active service aged 23 on 30 April 1945; Audrey worked at the former Kingseat Hospital in Auckland before joining the Army in Women's Aux Army Corps Radar; served from 1942 to 1945; after training at Papakura, aged 18, posted to Motutapu/Rangitoto Radar Section and then Trentham Military Camp Army Ordnance as a telephonist, by then a lance corporal; after leaving the army became a telephonist at the Taupo Exchange, where she met her future husband Garth Patchett, a lance corporal who also served in WW2 in Italy and the Pacific; they settled at Taupo, where she became a librarian at Taupo Nui-a-tea College; after a disastrous house fire they moved to Paekakariki; she volunteered at Paekakariki School and established the school library; worked as a librarian for the Wellington Education Department and later for the S.I.S., until her retirement; while living in Wellington, volunteered for the Mary Potter Hospice, helped establish the Paekakariki Trading Post, and assisted with the establishment of the Paekakariki Library; she annually attended Anzac Day services at Taupo, Wellington, and Paekakariki.
• New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages search for death reg. 2016/7118, death of Audrey Allison Patchett, born 1 July 1924.