By Kath Gannaway
Making the most of life was Zillah Postlethwaite’s golden rule.
She was a resilient and vibrant lady.
Zillah passed away on 30 June, 2018, aged 90, after what she would almost certainly have deemed ‘a fortunate life’, having overcome many challenges along the way.
Zillah was born in Yarra Glen on 13 April, 1928, the youngest of Leslie Stanley Gordon Bell and his wife Zillah Emmeline Bell’s three children. She had a brother Doug and a sister Joan with whom she shared a strong bond, and the childhood memories typical of life growing up in a small country town.
Her mother died when she was just five and for a time she went to live in Gippsland to live with relatives, returning when she was about eight years old after her father remarried Dorothy.
Tragically, he died just a couple of years later.
Zillah went to Yarra Glen State School and from there went to work on the family farm, but more hardship was to come when the farm was lost during the depression. She also spent time at Gulf Station with her cousins, the Bells.
She married Jack Postlethwaite in 1951 in the Presbyterian Church at Yarra Glen, the same church from which she was farewelled.
They had three children, Lynette, John and Shane. After Lynette’s death in 1996, at the age of 68, Zillah cared for her granddaughter, Rebecca.
Estranged from Jack, Zillah was on her own since the mid-80s, making the most of a simple life. She worked for a long time as a cleaner at the Yarra Valley Clinic, and refused to let the grass grow under her feet as she got older.
“She had a positive attitude to life and despite some health issues, she lived in her own home until just recently,” her son John said.
“Mum liked the social side of things and was a popular member of a number of groups in Healesville.
“She went to New Zealand with friends at stayed in backpackers when she was in her 80s and loved it,” he said.
Zillah was involved in Healesville Probus and Senior Citizens Club, joined U3A and particularly loved line dancing and singing with the Rocky Road Choir.
Songs recorded by the choir were played at the service in her honour.
“Mum did so many things, and despite living through some tough times, was pretty resilient,” John said.
Zillah will be missed and fondly remembered by her family and many friends.
