Sue's funeral was at St Laurence's Catholic Church, Forbes, on Saturday 24 February, 2024, where this beautiful tribute was shared by daughter Kristy Hartwig.
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Sue, Susan (and that wasn't just when she was in trouble) Susan Gai, Susie Q, Susie Wong Pong.
Born on 23 June 1950 to very proud parents Ken and Myra Gunn, Mum was the eldest of the five Gunn children with Ian, Tim, Jeff and Kaz to follow Mum.
Mum was extremely close to her parents, and they shared a special bond for their entire lives. She had spent every Christmas of her life with Pop and only missed one with Nan when she went to Canada one year after Pop passed away.
She missed them both terribly, particularly her mum who we sadly lost only 18 months ago, and we all have comfort knowing she is with them again.
Mum had a very happy childhood and over the years we have loved learning about the all the stories from Bogan St and then Johnson St when they moved into the new home that Nan and Pop built.
And memories were a plenty, particularly given the size of the Gunn clan. Pop was one of eight, and of that eight and living in Forbes were Nan and Pop who had five children, Peter and Lorna who had six and Barry and Shirley who had nine!
Therefore, I'm sure you can imagine the family get-togethers and that became even bigger when Barry and Joyce and Robin and John were in town with their families.
Mum has always had a beautiful circle of friends, most of whom remained so for her whole life. She loved you all.
Justin and I have many fond memories of holidays, get-togethers and fun times with everyone and their families over the years.
Would you believe Mum met Dad when they were about 13 and they became 'boyfriend and girlfriend' through school. Over the years, many break ups and get back togethers happened.
The first time they got serious was just after school and Dad was over from Parkes, parked out the front of the Mum and Dad Café. Mum walked across the road, they talked and it went from there.
After a few more break ups and get back togethers, Mum and Dad knew it was a forever thing and married on 11 November 1973. Point to note - they got married on a Sunday. As most of you would know, Pop was an SP Bookie and Saturday was races day and nothing got in the way of that! I'm sure Mum would be pleased we can bury her on a Saturday!
Last year marked 50 years of marriage, something Mum was so very proud of.
After moving to Sydney, where both Justin and I were born, Mum and Dad decided it was time to return to Forbes. They purchased O'Mara Fabrics and would you believe that at that time Mum was nowhere near the magnificent sewer she became well known for.
O'Mara Fabrics provided a beautiful lifestyle for our family, we had a lovely home, enjoyed many holidays and created so many memories. I started working there when I was 10 for $2 hour - which I might add Dad kept me on until I was at least 18!
Growing up, Mum made all our clothes as well as her own. Everything high quality and always matching. Her dress sense was always sharp. Mum was the original Kath Day-Knight. Killer shoulder pads, high-waisted stone wash denim jeans, hats, earrings and jewellery. A particular favourite was the coloured beads with a parrot on the side.
Once Mum got onto a new thing she was all in, this was particularly true of décor and colours. We went through the yellow phase that as well crockery included a complete plastic outdoor set including wine glasses, tumblers, coffee cups and salad bowls.
Green came next, followed by taupe. For every phase there was the complete collection so when you sat down to a meal, the plates, the salad bowls, the potato bake dish, salt and pepper shakers, salad dressing jug and whatever else she could possibly put together, all matched.
There was a proper glass for every kind of drink.
We have a funny memory of Nan's 60th that was held at our house. Mum had a little bar set up with wine glasses and cold beer mugs. The priest arrived and Dad offered drinks and promptly went about getting him a glass of wine. I'm sure you can all imagine Mum's displeasure when she looked over and saw the priest sitting amongst the party drinking wine out of an old vegemite glass that dad had got out of the cupboard!
Everything had a place; she was neat a pin and a professional fiddler. She would spend hours going through drawers grouping textas and then pencils and testing each one to make sure it worked before packing each draw. If you opened any of her cupboards, you'd see all her clothes grouped together by type and colour. T-shirts, workout gear, dresses ...
Her linen cupboard had all the same type of towels grouped together and labels for the queen sheets versus the singles.
Mum was a creature of habit. We had a meal for each day of the week, which occasionally changed but once that happened you could bank on that being on the menu for that particular day for a while. You'd never tell her you loved something cause that would surely lead to an overdose of that food that would quickly drop down the favourites list.
Just as her ability to sew got better and better until she absolutely mastered it, she had a similar experience with learning to cook, although it's fair to say that path was a little more rocky.
Let me share a few select examples of Susie's culinary skills.
- As the wedding was approaching, Nan decided she'd better teach mum a bit about cooking. She with bacon and eggs, simple, or so she thought. However, after two hours of teaching, Mum just couldn't master it so Nan gave up, exasperated. She finally said, 'for goodness sakes, Susan at least learn how to make a decent cup of coffee!'
- After returning to Forbes, Mum invited Nan, Pop and Kaz up for dinner. Roast chicken with all the trimmings. Pop was pretty impressed that she was putting on such a dinner. They arrived and sat down. Mum was absolutely shattered when she realised she hadn't turned the oven on.
- And the absolute cracker was the time she decided to cook a roast for Dad. Clearly still getting to know her cuts of meat she chose a piece of silverside to roast. Well, she lovingly cooked it for hours and was confused when she said to Dad "Peter, this meat's not cooking. I've had it on for five hours and it's still red!".
After O'Mara Fabrics closed, Mum started at the Forbes Advocate. First as the receptionist, then moved on to classified sales and finally took on the role of advertising rep.
Mum took pride in her work and loved that it allowed her to get out and about. She loved to talk and to see people. Of course, in that role it was important to look good! More clothes, more shoes and a winter coat in every colour.
Family was everything to Mum. She was so proud of Justin and I and loved that we had found our partners in Melissa and Damo.
Her grandchildren Jordan, Jack, Max, Lachie and Logan were the apple of her eye. When Jordy and Amelia had little Georgie Ellen Hartwig, Mum got her first pink one! Canon James arrived a couple of years later and Mum was thrilled to bits.
Mum would follow them all around with their sport and travelled many kms to support her grandchildren.
Favourite dinners for sleep overs and in my case, keeping us all organised. If my boys can't find something (in their own house), it's Nan they'd ring, not me!
Over the years, together with Mum, we have talked, laughed, and joked about all her amazing qualities, quirks and habits.
Some reoccurring themes included the volume of shoes she had and continued to accumulate (side note - she gave away 38 pairs at Christmas and it didn't even make a dent in her collection), three wardrobes full of clothes and of course, jewellery to match every outfit.
A magnificent garden that none of us know how to look after and so many things. All beautiful and expensive - the silver (that Justin and I loved cleaning every holidays ), the Parker dining room suite, the Van Treight lounge, the Limoges, the Capodimonte! May as well be talking French!
We used to take the mickey out of her and we would all laugh. Whilst we never doubted it, she always said to us "You'll miss me when I'm gone". And you know what Mum? Never a truer word spoken, and I reckon that might just be the greatest piece of advice you ever gave us.
So long Susie.
