Andrew Turnour
Una Walch My small Tribute
A great lady left us all on the 20th of January 2004.
Una Walch touched my life in many small ways, and all of them were enjoyable and Una gave them all that special blessing of hers. The big smile let me share just a few of my memories of this wonderful lady.
Una was the star of the Mallee.
She gave all visitors a very warm welcome with her ever-present smile. Thanks to her, and Neil, I was very lucky to have known her and her wonderful family. She instilled the values and ethics and great attitude in all her kids that makes them all an infectious lively bunch to be with.
Una the wonderful host.
She kitchen trained her kids well. They have played havoc on the world scene and incapacitated many a gathering with the famous traditional Walch Patche roast. Her whole family have been superb ambassadors of the Patche community. Any travels within Australia, if people mention the name Patchewollock, it always triggers a flood of fond memories of the Walch Clan, the Patche plains and those gregarious Patche Roasts.
Una the Golfer.
She always made us golf visitors most welcome at the Patche open. Una was always there consoling many the failed golfers as we trooped in defeated by the Mallee mulga, bindi eyes and worlds slowest putting slicks.
Una the Love Mentor.
Way back, she adopted me as a defacto son, Jeff had dragged me and many others out of university to experience the wild Mallee life of the 70’s. Una reckoned I fitted in well with her Greg and Peter, as those boys were not marriage material at that time. She always instructed us to tidy up our act, get married, build a big family, and be as happy as her. She reckons we were missing out by being single.
Years later, I got married in my forties, (Peter and Greg beat me, Una worked on them more than me & Jeff was her bench mark) She sent me a special wedding gift, a metal rooster door knocker bell. Even today when people, ring the bell at my house, it not only wakes up the whole family, it wakes half of north Queensland, it is the best bell, thank you Una from me, Bernadette and our four kids, we now have a family like the size you had and you are right and we do love it.
Una The Technologist...
One night many years ago at the Windsor Hilton in Melbourne, Una was helping me by being an engineering assistant, we were calibrating the infra-red and voice chips on these security robots that I had a job for at the Submarine Corp in Adelaide. Una was our crash test dummy, she had to walk up and down union street in the dark and let these robots detect her presence. If they did, the voice chip would loudly announce warning, warning, Wanker detected, warning, warning,), and thus trigger the security processes to commence. Una could not work out how the voice chips could swear at people. How could this thing talk like that she would ask? Una giggled as she got exasperated with this hi-teck stuff swearing at her when she moved to and fro in the dark it had her mystified but she was a great sport and always showed interest in new things and in what people did. She encouraged people to have a go at life and do things.
Una We will miss you
Una, thank you for many years of friendship with you and your family. I will miss your warm smile and friendship. I will keep an eye on your lovely Walch Clan, and I will try my best to make sure we never let the Patche roast tradition get cold.
The Mallee stars will now shine a bit brighter as you go to share the heavens with the angels. You were a great star to many of us.
Love Andrew Turnour and Family.
