Jean Daphne Kenyon

GROWING up during the Depression on a marginal dairy farm battered by drought, flood and fluctuating commodity prices was no easy thing for the Sanderson clan.

Known in the Gayndah district as the "Sandys", Jean Sanderson, her twin brother Arthur and the family's other twins, Jack and Frank, could be seen each weekday trudging along a 1.5km route to the one-teacher Bymingo State School, of which they were a big part. Only about 15 other kids attended the school.

The Sandys - older sibling Ellis had left school by then - walked single file across spear grass paddocks because of snakes but there were still quite a few near misses.

They must have made a strange sight - usually reading books as they walked or with Arthur marched along in a headlock by Jean after an argument.

It was a basic education but they learned literacy, numeracy and awareness of government, responsibility to each other and to the community.

In her early teens, Jean was a much-needed help to her mother Lizzie, who by then was caring for her husband Albert.

Despite the many difficulties she faced, she went to business college and was on the way to becoming a skilled shorthand writer and typist before nursing called.

She had found her vocation. After training at the (then) Brisbane General Hospital, she served mainly in the state's central west, the north and the northwest as a hospital matron.

Following her marriage to Tony Kenyon, she quit nursing and began a new life running the homestead on huge cattle properties in the northwest. Part of her duties involved managing the mainly indigenous domestic staff, and soon she also had four children of her own to look after - Douglas, David, Elizabeth and Paul.

At Vanrook Station, where Mr Kenyon worked as the manager, and on the other properties there was danger and hardship as well as many good times.

Lizzie also spent time on several Gulf country properties with her daughter and son-in-law, brightening their days.

Mrs Kenyon became much respected in regional Queensland, so much so that on one occasion when she needed medical treatment a senior northern pilot ignored orders not to fly because of prevailing poor weather and transported her to Cairns. It was later conceded that the decision saved her life.

She could be testy, but usually dealt with the daily challenges with a mix of good humour and determination.

When Mr Kenyon later took up a post with the Valuer General's Department, Mrs Kenyon returned to her old love and worked in hospitals in Cairns and Rockhampton.

By then her mother's health was failing. She cared for her for three years until the day she died in Rockhampton.

After Mr Kenyon retired, the couple moved to the Crows Nest district, where they took a lively interest in local affairs, as well as developing land in the area until Mr Kenyon's death several years ago.

Mrs Kenyon grew to love Crows Nest, particularly the native birds she fed on her veranda. But she never forgot her love for the district where she grew up with its open forest, mountains and high ridges.

In its heyday, Gahans Rd, off the Gayndah-Mt Perry road, near Mingo Crossing, was dotted with small dairy farms such as the one her father Albert had established in 1913.

So it was fitting that half her ashes found a place beside her husband's grave at Crows Nest and the other half was lodged in a small memorial at Warrawee ("welcome" in the local Aboriginal dialect), the block selected by Albert all those years ago.

Sadly, the dairy properties have given way to grazing and now there are no residents on Gahans Rd.

Mrs Kenyon is survived by three of her four brothers, Arthur, Jack and Frank. Her other brother, Ellis, who also had a property at Mingo Crossing, died several years ago.

She is also survived by her children Douglas, David, Elizabeth and Paul.