Births, engagements, marriages and vale notices

Vale: Diana Rose (Ferguson, 1963)

Diana passed away suddenly in Taree in June 2022 at the age of 75.

Diana started at Pymble Ladies’ College in Year 3 in 1955. She enjoyed her time at Pymble, finishing in 1963 as a prefect and Head of Lang House. Di used to tell great stories about her Pymble days, her teachers and friends, many of whom she kept in contact with her whole life. Di graduated from Pymble and attended Sydney University achieving a B.A and started working with a mineral and exporting company in North Sydney.

In 1972, she married Dr Colin Rose and they built a life together in Taree. Colin and Di had three children: Andrew, Alex and Tim. Di became heavily involved in the Taree community as a doctor’s wife and through many organisations such as Meals on Wheels, family day care and in the children’s school. Diana was awarded an Order of Australia (OAM) in 2015 for her service to the Taree community.

As her children grew older and became boarders at the Scots College and Pymble, she enjoyed involving herself in the Boarders Parents Associations, attending lots of sporting games and Garden Parties. Di loved her garden, travelling and, above all, her five grandchildren.

Diana was a true Pymble lady, continuing a long family history with the College and its beginnings. The Reverend John Ferguson was the founding chairman of the college from 1913 to 1923 and George Ferguson, his grandson, was Chairman of the College whilst Diana was a student. It gave Diana great pleasure when her daughter Alex Walker (Rose 1995) attended the college as a Boarder in Marden House and to see two of her granddaughters, Catherine Walker (Year 10) and Emily Walker (Year 8), currently attend the college.

Di will be dearly missed by her family and many friends.

Written by friend Edwina Maher (Dight, 1963) and daughter Alex Walker (Rose, 1995)

Vale: Jean Heather Baalman (Frater, 1951)

26 December 1934 – 9 August 2022, aged 87 years. Late of Narraburra.

Jean Heather Baalman – daughter of Andrew Keith Frater and Elsie Elizabeth Mary Schleibs, and mother of David, Malcolm, Elspeth and Penny – passed away on Tuesday 9 August 2022 at the West Wyalong Waratah Retirement Village.