Known for her ‘friendship and her giving, caring compassion’
EDITH Buxton’s teaching and Christian faith were at the centre of all she did, making her mark on generations of people in Central Otago and worldwide.
The former Goldfields Primary School teacher was also heavily involved with the Cromwell and districts Presbyterian Church and did several overseas missions through the church.
Mrs Buxton, who died aged 69 on September 4, moved to Cromwell with her husband
Alan and their family in 1983.
As a young girl her family had been part of the Exclusive Brethren but her parents left that church when Edith was 6, due to ‘‘the restrictions and rules ever increasing and contrary to the compassionate and inclusive life and teaching of Jesus’’, Mr Buxton said.
Several years after that the Exclusive Brethren required Edith’s mother’s family to sever all contact with them. The loss of the extended family of grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins was painful, Mr Buxton said. It had a profound impact on her life, and contributed to her joy at her own family and determination to make everyone feel welcome, her children said.
‘‘Mum so treasured her extended family and has taken great joy as her extended family has grown as each of us married, welcoming not only our spouses but also our inlaws as family.’’
It took time to adjust after her sheltered existence within the Exclusive Brethren but Edith went on to make ‘‘many brave decisions’’, also doing things such as having her first haircut aged 14, and learning to swim when her own children did.
She trained as a teacher in Auckland, being one of the last cohort to do the then twoyear training course before it became a threeyear course.
She started teaching aged 19 and then took a break aged 23, spending nine months at a bible college and then heading south to cook for a shearing gang in Southland, having met some shearers in bible school.
It was a ‘‘real adventure for an Auckland girl from her conservative background’’, but it led to a teaching job in Manapouri, where she met her future husband, who was doing landscaping work associated with the Manapouri power project.
They married in 1976 and had five children, Mrs Buxton ‘‘delighting’’ in being a stayathome mum and then at becoming a grandmother to 17 grandchildren.
She adjusted well to ‘‘the new southern life she bought into with her inlaws’’ — her five brother inlaws with their ‘‘outdoor and adventurous habits’’, and her parentsinlaw living electricity free on Stewart Island, Mr Buxton said.
‘‘She adapted to the rough and tumble of fishing, oystering, farm life, lambing and bush holidays, all at the same time as caring for a young family including twins (at one stage having four children under the age of 3 and ahalf years).
She later returned to teaching, spending more than 20 years at Goldfields Primary School, in Cromwell, where she had a particular passion for reading and writing, believing them to be at the core of education. She also enjoyed doing artwork and cooking with her pupils.
Former Goldfields principal Sharon Booth said Mrs Buxton touched many during her time at Goldfields, where she was known for her ‘‘passion, her kindness, her expertise, her diligence, her wisdom, her humility, her high standards, her friendship and her giving, caring compassion’’.
‘‘Edith is a Goldfields School legend, highly regarded by children and staff . . . All children taught by Edith will remember her well, for her nononsense approach, but her fairness as well.’’
Mrs Buxton’s overseas church missions were also a source of pride.
She and Mr Buxton did their first trip, to Burkina Faso, in West Africa, in the 1980s, visiting missionaries from the Cromwell Presbyterian Church who were there. Mr Buxton helped upgrade a house and Mrs Buxton was concerned and involved primarily with women’s welfare.
They went on to do five more missions — four to Vanuatu and one to Thailand, all selffunded by the Buxtons.
Mrs Buxton was scheduled to do a mission to Malawi this year, but was unable to go due to ill health. However, she helped raise $20,000 for the trip, which was organised jointly by the Cromwell and East Taieri Presbyterian churches.
It was a lifetime of generosity and hospitality, Mrs Buxton keeping her own family close and connected and welcoming many into her home through her community work and Christian faith, which was integral to her life.
She kept in touch with many from her overseas missions, often sending parcels, including Christmas cakes she baked, and continuing to raise awareness of charity work overseas.
Mrs Buxton is survived by her husband Alan, children Andrew Buxton, Michelle Thornton, Steven Buxton, Vivienne Judd and David Buxton and their families, including 17 grandchildren.