Life lived to the full

– Kath Gannaway
LEANNE Dovaston was very much a ‘glass half full’ woman – living life to the full through all its ups and downs.
Her parents Jenny and Les Dovaston were among family and friends who lovingly and bravely shared their memories of Leanne at a service at the Uniting Church in Healesville on 9 March 2011.
Leanne’s accidental death on the family’s Marysville Trout Farm on the previous Saturday seemed so much more tragic because she had in so many ways found her niche in life.
“At nearly 50 she really only had a half life, but she was getting what she wanted out of life … she was very happy,” Mr Dovaston said.
Leanne had stepped in to help out after the Black Saturday bushfires destroyed almost every building and the farm’s fish stock.
Her commitment to helping rebuild the business was, after two challenging years, starting to bear fruit.
Typically she was working, mowing around one of the trout ponds when the ride-on mower tipped into the pond, trapping her under the water.
Leanne was born on 11 September 1961 and her brother Glenn came along two years later. The family moved from East Doncaster in 1974 and Leanne started at Healesville High School.
Throughout her childhood and early teenage years callisthenics was her joy and her passion.
Shy as a young girl, she absolutely shone on the stage and went on to teach callisthenics and gymnastics.
“It allowed her to be who she really wanted to be,” Mrs Dovaston said.
“She used to get on the stage and was transformed … happy, smiling and confident.”
Attending the World Jamboree in 1979 as a Venturer Scout and involvement with the Uniting Church youth group were other highlights of her youth.
A trip to the Flinders Ranges was one of the happiest times for the family and whetted the family’s appetite for more. When Leanne was 17 they set off around Australia.
“We had an incredible six-months together in the car – it was an amazing, wonderful time,” Mrs Dovaston said.
Never shy of hard work, Leanne chose to follow in her father’s footsteps doing an apprenticeship in painting and decorating with her dad in which she proved to be a capable tradeswoman.
In 1985 her son Luke was born and life took another direction. They spent six months in Holland where they celebrated Luke’s third birthday with his paternal grandparents.
Leanne’s cousins Sandra Mills and Tina Dovaston said she was like a sister to them and spoke of care-free times as children, building cubby houses and playing in the creek and later on of shopping trips, cafes, basketball, skiing and trips to Bali.
Sandra said Leanne was a loving, caring and devoted mother and a loyal friend who was always there to help those she loved through the difficult times in their lives.
“She was such a hard worker. If she didn’t know how to do something, she would find out,” she said.
She said if Leanne was not working on the farm, she was helping out with Rotary.
“Her diary looked like a manuscript,” she said.
Introduced to the Rotary Club of Healesville by her partner, the late Jack Hort, Leanne became an active and valued member after his death.
She was involved in many Rotary projects and was a key member on the club’s Debutante Ball Committee.
Leanne was looking forward to life after 50 with her new partner by her side.
George Patterson and Leanne met when he came to Marysville as a volunteer after the fires. He said their short time together had seemed like a lifetime and spoke of their plans, their dreams, her beautiful smile, infectious giggle and her love of life.
Mrs Dovaston said her daughter had fitted an enormous amount into her life and paid a beautiful tribute to her aspirations and her achievements.
“I love that I can stand here and say that you have fulfilled many of your dreams,” she said. “I am a dreamer; Leanne was a worker, like her dad”.
Leanne Dovaston is survived by her son, Luke, her brother, Glenn, and her parents, Jenny and Les.