A fabulous Forbes life

Gwen Markwort  (nee Black) was born in Forbes on 11 March 1935, the middle child of Bert and Jessie Black.

Gwen spoke fondly of her childhood at ‘Fern Hill’ near Calarie with sister Joanie and brother Billy.

After attending school in Calarie, Gwen went to finishing school in Sydney, returning to Forbes to work in retail and later the library.

Her sense of adventure saw her travelling overseas with her cousin Betty – seeing Europe, the United States and Canada. They prepared for this trip of a ‘lifetime’ by thumbing their way to Adelaide and back to test their hitchhiking skills.

The pair spent nearly three years abroad hitchhiking through parts of Europe, living and working in London and Toronto.

One of the many stories retold was being treated as VIP guests at a film star’s Italian mansion – a gentleman intoxicated with the Australian accent, which he apparently had never heard before.

Despite these brushes with fame and exotic foreign locales, Gwen ended her trip abruptly when she announced out-of-the-blue one morning her intention to head home to marry Mick Markwort – a young bee farmer who had courted her before the bon voyage.

Not long later she and Mick (aka Bill and Maurice) were married in the Forbes Methodist Church in Browne Street – almost 60 years ago.

During her first years of marriage Gwen worked alongside Mick with the bees, travelling to Tumut where the red stringybark was in flow.

They rented a home in Tumut where they stayed for a number of months working the bees – a time they both remembered with great fondness.

Their son Lloyd arrived in 1963, Karen a year later and Vicki the year after. Wendy was a late surprise some 11 years later.

Gwen was a woman typical of her era – a proficient housekeeper who kept a spotless home, large garden and always had the kitchen pantry filled with homemade cakes, biscuits, jams and preserves.

Her biggest passion was her garden. If you were looking for Mum, you knew you could find her in the garden.

Gwen and Mick were always bantering over whose patch of dirt was whose, with Gwen’s flower beds often encroaching on Mick’s highly-treasured vege patch.

Mick would prepare a bed for planting, and be away for the next few night shifting bees, and return to find Gwen’s sweet peas or stocks neatly planted in his prepared bed.

It was not unusual to arrive home to find a newly created lagoon in the back garden - Mum’s mosquito swamp as Mick called it; or the herb garden surrounded by a wall of railway sleepers, quickly dubbed Fort Knox.

Vicki and her husband Michael were married in garden and Gwen worked tirelessly for months to make it even more beautiful.

It is rumoured that Gwen still had secateurs in her hand as the wedding guests arrived.

One of the few things that would stop a productive day for Gwen was a really good book.

Nothing got done until it was finished. She would often hide away so she wouldn’t be distracted.

Mick recalled one of his first dates with Gwen - he arrived to pick her up to find her with her nose in a book and unmoveable.  

Gwen’s father, Bert, stepped in as ‘date’ and entertained Mick with yarns all night.

Gwen appreciated the beauty of nature and had a deep love for Australia.

She would always comment that she wished she had an easel and paints to paint the fluffy clouds in the sky or the pretty bird in the tree.

She was the first to pick up rubbish and often walked Warrul Rd to keep it clean.

Gwen always loved travelling – trips to the Kimberleys and Tasmania, travelling through western NSW and Queensland, attending country music festivals and caravanning and fishing with Mick and friends.

But just as much, she loved her home-town Forbes and refused to leave it even after her beloved husband passed.

A Christian woman, Gwen was committed to her Church and the church community – which   provided never-ending support to her, Mick and the family, particularly when tragedy struck with the loss of her first-born and only son, Lloyd aged 19.

Going to church was a highlight of her week and she became involved as a Church Elder.

But church wasn’t a once a week affair for Gwen; she lived by the doctrine ever day-and extended love and support to others in the community through Compassionate Friends and Meals on Wheels.

Gwen was a devoted wife and mother and besotted grandmother of nine – whose knack in settling a baby earned her the title, ‘baby-whisperer’.

A quiet and unassuming woman with a great sense of compassion and humour, Gwen had a great love for life.  Always positive, the glass was always half full.

She led by example. Her smile lit up a room.

The family would like to sincerely thank all the amazing staff at the Mater  – for making Gwen feel so welcomed when she arrived and for the care and love they gave her and her family.

Gwen Markwort passed away at the Mater Aged Care home on 30 March 2018.

Her funeral was held at the Forbes Uniting Church.