Family returns to share birthday

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 1, Issue 23, 8 November 1983, Page 3

Family returns to share birthday

"N ow that I 've had a ramp built up to the back door I will be able to skate into and out of the house instead of climbing the front steps", said 98-year old Mrs Ruby Parker at Raetihi on her birthday last week. Last year on her 97th birthday she admitted to having given up somersaults and cartwheels! Mrs Parker was celebrating her 98th birthday with some of her family who had returned to Raetihi especially for the occasion which was held in her George Street home and which she has lived in for 57 years. Her first Raetihi home was destroyed in the disastrous fire which swept through the Waimarino in March 1918. Ruby Alice Pleass was born of a farming family in the Wimmera district of Victoria, Australia, on 30 October 1 885 and first came to New Zealand as a young bride in 1910. She and her Irish husband ^ftaddy' Parker first lived in ^Jannevirke after travelling by sea from Melbourne and then as Wairarapa's bush was cleared. the couple moved to Taihape before settling in Raetihi. Mrs Parker remembers the disastrous 1917 fire well ... she was aged 32 at the

time and had four young children. The town of Raetihi and surrounding area were devastated in the fire ... 58 houses were destroyed and 9 sawmills (including the one where Paddy Parker worked) were burnt to the ground. Paddy and Ruby Parker were one o.f the many families who lost most, if not, all of their personal possessions but miraculously only 3 deaths occurred as a result of the fire. Mrs Parker has been a widow for nine years but still sees a lot of her family though they no lpnger live in the Waimarino.

She had 8 children — 5 boys and 3 girls — and now has a family of 46 grandgreat- and great-great-grandchildren e.xtending from Whangarei to Timaru. Despite the distances she still manages to keep in contact with her extended family who never forget her birthdays. She has received lots of cards and wishes. Mrs Parker is the oldest . lady member of the Raetihi Senior Citizens Club which shared in her birthday celebrations recently. Only Fred Honoreat 101 years of age is senior to her as a club member.