OBITUARY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 January 1940, Page 4

OBITUARY

MRS MARY McGOVERN. A WAIRARAPA PIONEER. Another link with the pioneering days of the Wairarapa was broken on Sunday morning when the. death occurred at the Masterton Hospital. of Mrs Mary McGovern, at the age of 88 years. Mrs McGovern recently had the misfortune to dislocate her leg, which necessitated her removal to the hospital, where she died a week later. Born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1852, the late Mrs McGovern, her husband and one child reached New Zealand in 1874 in the sailing .ship Chilea. Soon after their arrival the family moved to the Miki Miki, where, with the courage and perserverance so characteristic of pioneer settlers they later carved out a home from the bush-clad Mangarai Valley (Bideford). The late Mrs McGovern was a typical pioneer settler, quiet and unassuming, an industrious, worker and at all times ready to lend a helping hand to those in need. Her husband pre-deceased her three years ago. She is survived by a family of five daughters and four sons. The sons are: William. High Street, Masterton; John, Matahuna, Waikato; Robert, Rangitumau; David, Manaia; and the daughters, Mrs W. L. Wrigley, Lansdowne: A. McKay, Pihautea; J. McKenzie. Puke Te; G. Napier, Alfredton, and J. Bannister, Te Wharau. A daughter. Mrs N. McKay, Gladstone, died in 1925, and two sons, Arthur and Samuel, died in 1910 and 1928, respectively. A daughter, Mrs J. H. Martin, Waikato, died in 1937, and a son, James, in 1939. There are also 58 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren. Deep sympathy will be extended to the family in their sad bereavement. The funeral will take place tomorrow leaving the Lansdowne Presbyterian Church, after a service commencing at 11 o’clock, for the Masterton Cemetery.