‘A dog with a bone’ lost to Feilding
A fierce advocate for the elderly and the mastermind behind a community orchard in Feilding has fought her last fight.
Gill Absolon provided a staunch voice for the ageing population and impaired in Manawatu¯ , arguing for more mobility parks and calling on officials to fix cluttered and dangerous footpaths to protect vision-impaired pedestrians.
Absolon died on January 1, following
‘‘We need people like that. She was polite, but she was firm.’’ Manawatu¯ mayor Helen Worboys
a brief stay at Ranfurly Manor Rest Home. She was aged 84.
The driving force behind the Timona Park Orchard Trust, her vision turned an overrun wasteland at the public park into a small forest of fruit trees for everyone to enjoy.
Absolon’s home backed on to the park and she decided to take action after growing sick and tired of looking out her back window. What she saw wasn’t pretty – shrubs, trees and weeds towered above nearby homes, depriving them of sunlight.
The dream to replace the eyesore came in 2015, when she harvested crab apples from a neglected tree in the park.
Subsequent discussions with adjacent residents sparked an interest in improving the state of the wetland and adding a wider variety of fruit.
Manawatu¯ mayor Helen Worboys said Absolon was like a ‘‘dog with a bone’’ and a fierce advocate for anything she thought would better the community.
‘‘We need people like that. She was polite, but she was firm,’’ said Worboys.
During her working life, Absolon forged a career at the Mature Employment Agency, before it closed its doors in 2009.
She helped mature-age workers to re-enter the job market after an extended period of time away, connecting them with age-friendly employers.
Her stepson, Private Richard Absolon, or ‘‘Dickie’’ as he was known to his comrades, was the only New Zealander killed during the Falklands War.
The war, between Argentina and the United Kingdom, began in 1982 when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, then British territories, in an attempt to establish sovereignty.
The former Palmerston North Boys’ High School student was deployed to the Falklands, where he worked as a reconnaissance scout for the British army.
On June 13, 1982, the day after a successful assault on the enemy, he was wounded by mortar fire and died later that evening, aged 19.
More recently, Absolon was the face of Low Vision Manawatu¯ , campaigning for better access in Feilding for those who walked as their main mode of transport.
At a council meeting last year, she said several buildings in the town had dark passages, sharp narrow corners and steps that were not clearly marked.
Officials responded, saying they would consider the alterations with any renovations in the future.
Absolon’s funeral is at the Feilding Funeral Chapel on January 15.