November 2012

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN Well, here we are again, almost Santa Clause time. Where did this year go? Hope you all had a good year. Now is the time to mark Sunday March 10th 2013 in your calendar, diary or whatever you use to plan your future commitments. Thanks again to Margaret & John for making their home available. Best wished to all for Christmas and the New Year. Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the reunion next year Best wishes and good health Ron

Updating you on our Woodburn cousins

who copped it really bad in the massive storm cell two nights ago ( 17th November ). FYI ... The old Carusi farm house shoook like mad in the wind and Tony Carusi thought it would blow apart. In the big house, the water came flooding under the front door down as far as Clare's TV and then went down the corridor to the bedrooms. Also came sheeting in down the end of the hall from the back door. Tony lost a few sheds. Lots of damage at the Dolby house, with garage door blown in, windows blown in, half the back deck gone and the ramp blown off side of the house. Shade cloth over the pool gone in the winds. And in Tony's place, water came in under the eaves, flooding ceiling and down the walls. Outside Caruse is upset to have lost his macadamia tree and his olive tree and crop of sweet corn which was almost ready for picking. Tony had just planted a crop of beans a week ago which are all lost. Our cousin Jim McCormack SES Controller for the area said it was the worst storms he had ever seen and they were lucky no one lost their lives in it. He was shown on the Sydney news being interviewed on Sunday night. We are all glad that apart from property damage, no one was hurt and at the end of the day, that is the main thing. The Carusi family send regards to all who were concerned about them. We are pleased to report that the idea of a family Facebook page has taken off and there are now 25 members around the world who have liked our page. Presently there are more Australian Likers than USA but it is not a contest !

Can you all please mark your 2013 calendars for Sunday th 10 March for the reunion at Margaret & John Drews home, 5 Octavia St, Toongabbie

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2013 Nov 16/17 for the weekend campfire gathering at Scott & Helens place at Hampton, near Oberon. The hardy can camp out and the rest can book in at the nearby hotel for overnight accommodation.

Feel free to contribute any news about your branch of the family that you think other members would like to hear about. It could be a wedding, a new arrival to the family, promotion or achievement that you wish to share. Photos are welcome. Scott Hunter and wife Helen will host a camping weekend at their home near Jenolan Caves, NSW and we will create an Event so people can reply to the invite. It promises to be a lot of fun, with a campfire and barbecue. BYO tents! They have a large property and you are guaranteed to see kangaroos, possibly wombats and possums so be prepared to enjoy the camaraderie of your cousins when the event occurs. Carl Foster is happy to report he is recovering from his illness. On a sad note, we were all saddened to hear of the recent passing of Rose McNamara at the young age of 97 years and 7 months, the oldest member of the McCormack family in Australia. Our thoughts go out to her family at this time. Joyce

Also, during this time, Frank became involved with supplying horses etc. for the movie business and Rose managed to meet and feed a number of our Australian actors. Early eighties Rose returned to Sydney and lived with Marge ( her very special friend and cousin) and her daughter Lindy; she loved this period of time. Rose returned home to 'Melrose' about 1983 and remained at the farm until her death October 5th 2012, she was 97 and 7months. and as alert as ever, interested in the world events, politics and the BRONCOS!!!!! She will be sorely missed by her family.

VALE JENNY SPREADBOROUGH

(NEE DAVIES) August 1948 September 2012 Father: Thomas Mother: Phyllis McCormack From Gordon I first met my Blonde Bombshell in 1969 and I fell madly in love with her the first time I met her. We married the following year in 1970. In the 42 years that have followed we shared many great adventures together and remained very close right up to the end. Our main achievements were raising three (3) great children; Shannon, Tomara and Joel. Jen got great delight in seeing them achieve their goals. Jen was a very private person and when told in 2010 that she had lung cancer she did not seek pity. She wanted to keep it quiet and fight this terrible disease. Even our children did not know how serious her health was. She always put on a good front. Jen underwent radium four times plus chemo four times. Jen had a big operation in 2010 and at that time we were told the cancer was gone. It only took a short time for this disease to come back. Jen loved her Grandchildren, Jordon, Bronte, Ava and Olivia. She was determined to beat the cancer to see her grandchildren grow up but it was not to be.

VALE ROSE McNAMARA

Rose was born on March 6th 1915, in Annandale NSW. When she was 2 years old, along with parents, Harry and Kathleen they returned to 'Melrose' Woodburn, to take over the farm from her Grandfather. Together with her sister Greta she spent time at St.Mary's school Casino as a boarder. She did not enjoy boarding school so returned to Woodburn and attended the local Catholic school with her sister Kathleen. During the War years along with her cousin, Marge McCormack she moved to Adelaide and worked in an ammunition factory, doing their bit for the War effort. After the end of the war she returned to Sydney and with her Mother ran a mixed business/milk bar at Cronulla, near Main Beach. Returning to 'Melrose' in the early fifties, Rose and Frank, her brother ran the home dairy farm till it changed to beef cattle and Frank commenced breeding Australian Stock Horses. This was the latter sixties.

My Jen was the perfect wife; always there for me, supporting me in every way, presenting me with three fantastic children. I have loved Jen since 1969 and will continue that love for as long as I am here. Best regards, Gordon. FROM JENNY'S NEPHEW SCOTT HUNTER Jenny was my special Auntie and Gordon still is my favorite Uncle. Their relationship was one of the special kinds that only come along rarely Gordon met Jenny at a nightspot in Brisbane a fair while back and initially he old Jenny that he was an artist visiting from Melbourne. However Jenny who was an apprentice hairdresser at the time, also did Gordon's mother hair at the time and Jenny knew that Gordon already had a crush on her, and you could say that the rest was fantastic. I had the pleasure of sharing most Christmas days and birthdays with Gordon, Jenny and their beautiful girls Shannon and Tomara who always made my family and my children very welcome and all of them and their extended families are part of our families as well. Jenny is sorely missed and I am positive Gordon ,Joel, Shannon and Tomara will eventually slowly heal from her passing and we can all remember her the way she was, beautiful ,charming, compassionate and caring Scott Hunter Kevin is a son of John McCormick, grandson of John Hurley McCormick, great grandson of Lawrence McCormack and great great grandson of Lawrence McCormack. He lives in Oregon USA. Kevin is a policeman and likes to dress for the occasion. Has three kids, two of whom live in Chicago and one lives next door, and has just bought a copy of the family book.

NEWS FROM USA

Kevin McCormick put this on the family FB page I'm on the right. My cousin, Mike, wanted a photo of us holding this flag. He told me it belonged to our grandfather, John Hurley McCormick. In 1916, he brought it across the country, intending to join the rebellion in Ireland. But by the time he got to New York, the rebellion was over. Kevins wife, Cindy, and daughter, Shannon, with Kevin McCormick wearing a top hat) on the way to see The Nutcracker.

L to R Paul Hammerton, Gerry Hammerton, Mike Yeo, David Dolby. Have no idea when this was taken ( ?late 1950s) but probably at the Hammertons at Springwood. Q: Why are the two Hammertons so well rugged up? A: When Sheila was cold, so must be the kids.

If you are receiving this newsletter by email, you are enjoying the colour that is possible with emails and we all take it for granted. If you are seeing the printed version because we sent it in the mail, you are missing out on something, as you see it in black and white. If you are a print person and have email access, please let us know so we can save some costs of printing and postage. It does not cost us anything to email so the more the merrier. However, if you do not pay subs to the Treasurer each year, it makes it harder for us to run the show. Is there an email address that we can use to send this to? A family member perhaps?

SOCCER STAR IN THE MAKING.

Move over Harry Kewel - Ben Yeo is hot on your tail. Bens soccer team Under 13s Division 1 won the 2012 Grand Final in a penalty shootout. His team went down 1-0 early then rallied to score the equalizer 2 minutes out from full time. That took the game into extra time where no goals were scored which took them into a penalty shootout.They won the penalty shootout 4-3 which was a very fitting result.

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE?

Ben decided he wanted a stronger challenge for 2013 so decided to trial up an age group and just found out he has made the Under 15s Division 1 side for St Clair.