OBITUARY

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 77, Issue 6977, 13 October 1948, Page 6

OBITUARY

MRS GAVIN GIFFORD HONOURED CITIZEN PASSES Sorrow was felt by many district residents and distant friends when it became known on Friday evening last that Mrs Gavin Gifford had passed away after a short illness. Mrs Gifford, who was born at Otahuhu in 1873, was one of a large family, her parents, Mr and Mrs C. A. Bowden, being early settlers from Devonshire. She was seventeen years old when the family came to the Waikato, where she resided at different times in Pat? rangi, Cambridge, and finally in Te Awamutu.

Never seeking public prominence, Mrs Gifford nevertheless gave much assistance for many years to the St. John’s Ladies’ Guild and the Church Choir, at Bowling Club functions, and in Red Cross Society work. In her earlier years she was widely known as the possessor of a particularly sweet and appealing mezzo-soprano voice, and she took leading parts in a number of operas, including Wallace m “ Maritana/’ presented by the musical societies of those days. Of a quiet, patient, and gentle disposition, Freda Gifford lived a full life characterised by unselfishness and self-sacrifice. She is survived by her husband, daughter (Mjiss Ailsa Gifford). and son (Mr Brad Gifford), of Te Awamutu.