Lynette Dorothy (Collins) Hansch (1949 - 2018)

Born 26 Jun 1949 in Chelsea Bush Hospital, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Descendants

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Lyn (Collins) Hansch was a wonderful member of our WikiTree community who has passed away. Lyn (Collins) Hansch made many contributions and will be missed.

Biography

• My name is Lyn (Collins) Hansch, ^[1] I am the daughter of Ernest Collins and Phyllis Wellings.

HERE IS MY LIFE STORY

I was born on the 26th June 1949 in the Chelsea Bush Nursing Hospital Chelsea Victoria. I have an older sister who was born in 1947. I have had various jobs over the years. As a teenager I worked for the Education Department in Melbourne as a Flexowriter operator for a few years which was my 1st job. In this place my boss was believe it or not the actor Bruce Spence. He was a wonderful friend and boss and my friend Marcia and I had a great time working there. I also had some part time jobs with my cousin in a service station and helped round up cattle and help with the hay baling at a farm nearby the service station which was a lot of fun. Other jobs I held later on were Payton Brakes in Moorabbin Victoria making screws for brake parts. Phillip Morris in the making of cigarettes (I never smoked them) Worked for Ernest Hillier making chocolates in South Melbourne Worked in a butter factory unsure where. Worked in many Special Accommodation and Nursing homes for the elderly. Some as Manager, Assistant Manager and just worker. Worked in the office of a Christian School

Last job I held for over 15 years was Outside School Hours care firstly as morning leader then later as Outside School hours Co-ordinator. From this job I attended Swinburne Tafe College in Melbourne and was rewarded with my Diploma of Children's Services. I held these jobs whilst I reared my 5 children. I am now retired.

Our parents Ernest William Collins and Phyllis Jean Wellings we really knew very little about until I was researching my Family Tree and people in our family told us a bit about them.

My Mum died when I was 3 years of age so I couldn't remember anything about Mum just that Dad & her family loved her. She was full of life and fortunately for myself I took after her in this aspect. My Dad felt overwhelmed having a 5 year old and 3 year old to look after. My Great Aunt helped to look after us for Dad and we spent a lot of time from going from one place to another of Mum's family. I vaguely remember little snippets of my life but not all.

My Dad being a carpenter had to work full time and many times overtime to keep us well looked after. My Godfather was the owner of the Doncaster Inn Hotel in Doncaster Rd Doncaster Victoria. I can remember spending some time with him when I was young and older about 10 years of age. Now Dad was injured in the 2nd WWar. He was a "Sapper" and took a lot of gunfire from the enemy whilst building the bridges. Unfortunately he was hit with a round of gunfire and received shrapnel in his lower shoulder. There was no way of operating to get it out at the time because it was too close to his heart. Doctors warned him not to have too much stress but life dealt him more than he could handle. At 5 years of age my sister and I were placed into a childrens home in Burwood Victoria. I think it was the hardest decision our Dad had to make. I was put into the younger section of the home and my sister was placed in the older section. Our Dad continued working even though he was getting weaker. He had to pay for us being in the home. I don't remeber very much about the home as I have blocked a lot of my past out because of the stress it involved. On our birthdays our Nanna would make a cake for everyone at the home however any presents we got we had to give them up so everyone could share them. The only thing we were allowed to keep because my Nanna insisted on it was a bible which Nanna bought us. I do remember that you were not a person in the home only a number. Life was hard especially not being able to see your sister unless on a special occassion. I can remember scrubbing and polishing floors, helping in the kitchen, and being disciplined for talking in church or not doing chores correctly. I can also remember eating weavels in our porridge in the morning. We only had two visits from Dad because he was ill and eventually he was placed in the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital in Victoria where he spent the rest of his life. I can remember seeing him when the matron from the home took us to visit him. The last time I saw him I was 7 years of age and he was very emancipated and not able to communicate any more. The doctors said that the shrapnel gradually pearced his heart and he was not able to be saved. Fortunately for my sister and I he signed us over to his parents and we lived with Nanna & Pop Collins until Nanna died when I was 13 and Pop when I was not quite 18 years of age. My other Nanna died when I was 12 years of age. She was wonderful. We spent some weekends with her, my Grandfather died before we were born so Momma as my Grandmother was called by my Mum's twin brothers after they came back from the War and to this day she is fondly remembered as "Momma" After we left the home into our Grandparents care, my sister was 9 and I was 7. Our Dad died a week later.

We joined "Legacy" in Melbourne and were taken on holidays, met up with various people and danced at concerts at the Melbourne Town Hall. We had a lot of fun growing up with all the children whose father or mother had passed away during or after the war. Life seemed pretty good except we were orphans and kids at school were quite cruel with this aspect. However you take one day at a time and when things were not quite good you wait for the good days to come back. In my life I had many ups and downs. I was not a depressive person so I just went with the flow and allowed life to take its twists and turns knowing that the Lord was always around. I had 5 beautiful children to a very failed marriage. Through this marriage I wa blessed with 11 Grandchildren and 3 Great Grandchildren.

My marriage now is made in Heaven. Life may have dealt me a lot of blows but it sure gave its rewards. I have been blessed with 3 stepdaughters and lots of Step Grandchildren and Step Great Grandchildren. We love them all.

Sadly my youngest child passed away when he was 19. As a Christian I knew that God was in control and found peace to carry on without my Son always remembered and Loved. In God's care.

Hobbies I love doing Family History, Spending time with our families. Monthly get together with my "Homies" Brothers and Sisters. "Forgotten Australians" group which is a group of people who were in homes after WW1 to 1970's. Going away to the Australian Outback and roughing it. Most of all I Love spending time with my wonderful Hubby.

My Philosophy for Life is.

"Always look on the bright side and remember there is always someone out there who needs a shoulder to cry on who is going through what you went through. Many people have come into my life through circumstances like these.

When you find these people embrace them with your love and listen to them and love them for who they are.

These are the Butterflies and Angels in your life and they will find you if your heart and mind is open.

"Remember the past but do not live in it. Live one day at a time and embrace that day." No-one knows if tomorrow will come.

Sources

1. ↑ My WikiTree profile for Collins-2352 was created through the import of My Australian Family History.ged on Jan 16th, 2012 by me Lyn Collins.

Birth Record Victoria BDM's

• http://tributes.heraldsun.com.au/notice/4939717820809216