By Charlene Gatt
ONE of Footscray’s oldest active residents has passed away.
Evelyn De Bonnaire, 98, passed away on 3 June after battling a short respiratory infection.
She was farewelled on Friday at a service at Footscray’s Hyde St Church.
Ms De Bonnaire had a decades-long involvement in Zonta International, the War Veterans Wives Association, the Dame of Grace Order of St John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitallers, the State Emergency Service and the Lady Mayoress Committee.
She was also elected to Footscray City Council between 1982 and 1988 and was Mayor in 1984 and 1985.
In recent years she was currently working with a nun to care for Sudanese refugee women.
Her giving nature was a lifelong trait.
In an interview with Star in 2009, Ms De Bonnaire revealed she habitually gave a struggling colleague from her first job part of her wage to help her out.
It’s a far cry from the 13-year-old Fitzroy teenager that left school because her uncle believed a woman’s place was in the home.
“I’m a tough old bird, you either sink or swim. I’m a positive person,” she said at the time.
Ms De Bonnaire had three husbands – all, ironically, named Charles – and described her third, who passed away in 1984 from a heart attack, as the love of her life.
She had her first and only child Vivienne from her first marriage. Vivienne passed away aged 33.
“She was a lovely woman,” Maribyrnong councillor Michael Clarke said.
“What was interesting about her was that, in spite of her age, she was sharp as a tack and still went along to the Zonta group and was instrumental in the SES. She was a wonderful woman.
“I honestly thought she’d make it to 100.”
