OBITUARY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22125, 1 December 1933, Page 9

OBITUARY

MR JAMES GEBBIE An old colonist who landed at Port Chalmers 84 years ago, in the infant days of the Otago Settlement, Mr James Gebbie, died at his home at Remuera, on Saturday. Mr Gebbie, who was 87 years of age, arrived with his parents in the ship "Multan in January, 1849. He attended the first school established in Dunedin and, to the time of his death, cherished a prize given to him by Mr Livingstone, thq first headmaster in that city. When he reached manhood he became a gardener and a great lover of nature, and for 26 years contributed notes on horticulture, written with no little literary grace, to the Otago Witness. In 1892 Mr Gebbie was entrusted with the laying-out of the public gardens at Oamaru, and later acted as curator of these gardens for 10 years. He went to Auckland in 1919 and made many friends there among Nature lovers. In early life he became attached to the Church of Christ and remained loyal to that section of the Christian community to the end of his long life. He is survived by two sons, Pastor Ralph Gebbie, of the Ponsonby Church of Christ, and Mr Ernest Gebbie, of Sydney, and two daughters, Mrs J. Holt, of Henderson, and Mrs Brinkman, of Taumarunui. Another son, Mr Edwin Gebbie, was killed in action in 1917. Mrs Gebbie died a year ago. MRS M. L. A. BRUSTAD (Special to Daily Times.! CHRISTCHURCH, November 30. Mrs Mary Lucy Aroha Brustad, who, as Miss Aroha Clifford, was well known throughout New Zealand as the first woman to gain her pilot’s license through an aero club, died from pneumonia in Amuri Hospital, Rotherham, this morning, at the age of 25 years. Her death followed the birth of a son at the hospital two days ago. Mrs Brustad was the youngest daughter of Mr and the late Mrs Walter Clifford, Garden road, Fendalton, and a niece of the late Sir George Clifford. She was born in Wellington, and received her education at St. Mary’s Convent, Colombo street. North Christchurch, and at Ascot Convent, England. Early in her teens she became keenly interested in winter sports and alpine climbing. She was a very frequent visitor to the Hermitage, Mount Cook, and she became an expert skier and climber. One of the most notable of her exploits in this region was the “ round trip ” over Copland Pass (7400 feet) to Waiho and back to the Hermitage by way of Graham’s Saddle (8739 feet), a journey that called for great endurance and experience. She was accompanied on this trip by Mr Alf Brustad, then guide at the Hermitage, whom she married in 1931. Mrs Brustad was the first pupil instructed by the Canterbury Aero Club in May, 1929, a month or two after the club’s inception. She flew solo for the first time in June and was granted her “A ” license when under the age of 21 by Major L. M. Isitt, the examiner, on August 5. After some experience of cross-country flying in New Zealand she went to England in 1931 and while there she spent three months at the De Havilland factory, taking a private ownership course in mechanics. She was at this time a member of the London Aero Club, and did a considerable amount of flying from Stag Lane aerodrome. She purchased a machine of her own, a Puss Moth, and this she brought back to New Zealand with her. It was later acquired by the New Zealand Permanent Air Force, which now uses it for aerial survey work. Mrs Brustad resumed her flying on her return to New Zealand and she was the first woman to pilot an aeroplane over Cook Strait in a flight from Wellington to Christchurch. After her marriage to Mr Brustad, in September, 1931, she gave up active flying, although she maintained a keen interest in the activities of the Canterbury Aero Club. Mr Brustad was stationed in Christchurch as an alpine guide and winter sports tutor until two or three months ago, when he purchased a farm. Mr and Mrs Brustad settled in the Waiau district only two or three weeks ago. MRS WALTER FULLER (Per United Press Association ) WELLINGTON, November 30. The death is announced of Mrs Dorothy Fuller, wife of Mr Walter Fuller, and sister-in-law to Sir Benjamin and Mr John Fuller, Sydney. Mrs Fuller was an accomplished singer and musician, and in her younger days she was associated with the professional stage for some years. During her married life in Wellington she was for a time a member of the Wellington Amateur Operatic Society. She leaves two children —Misses Jean and June Fuller. GENERAL SIR ARTHUR CURRIE A'PROMINENT CANADIAN. (United Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) MONTREAL, November 30. (Received Nov. 30, at 11.55 p.m.) General Sir Arthur Currie, commander-in-chief of the Canadian Corps in France, and principal and vice-chancellor of the M’Gill University, died to-day; aged 57. He was stricken with a blockage of a bloodvessel in the middle of the brain on November 7, and pneumonia developed to bring death.