A true lady devoted to her family and to her community

Ettie Ruth Rees (Ruth), wife of Cliff (dec), mother of Rosalyn, Lea (dec), Tim and Penny, passed away on Monday, February 10, 2025, aged 96 years.

Ruth was born in Narrabri on July 13, 1928, at home in Reid Street, Narrabri, to Henry and Susan Dasey, the youngest of seven children.

Her siblings Frank, Ted, Bob, Jean, Mick and Joan (all deceased) were known by their second names; hence Ettie was always known as Ruth.

Ruth’s father, Henry (Harry) Dasey was a horse breaker, and her mother Susan, a homemaker, was always known as Sis.

The family initially lived in Daseytown near Inverell and moved to Narrabri before the youngest three children (Mick, Joan and Ruth) were born.

First attending Narrabri Primary School, Ruth moved to St Francis Xavier’s Primary School for Years 5 and 6.

Ruth attended Narrabri High School for three years, but at this time felt she had to leave school to obtain work and contribute to the family finances.

The ambition of heading off to Newcastle to study graphic art became a distant dream with family responsibilities taking precedence, and Ruth joined the telephone exchange in Narrabri as a telephonist.

She rose to become shift manager of the exchange before she left to be married.

Ruth met a young Cliff Rees at a local dance, and the couple later celebrated their wedding at the Presbyterian church in Narrabri on August 4, 1950.

As there was still rationing for many products since the war, the extended family helped with coupons to buy the fabric for Ruth’s wedding dress, beautifully made by her aunt Pearl Warwick, together with a new damask tablecloth for the 30 guests at the reception at 25 Reid Street.

Shortly after their wedding, Ruth and Cliff moved 66 kilometres away from Narrabri to ‘Yatta’.

Cliff had purchased the property in 1949, and by 1950 there were up to 30 men working on the property to clear the paddocks for farming.

Ruth was cooking meat for the workers as they were all camping out at the time. Thirty men to cook for with no electricity, a wood stove and kerosene fridge and lights.

Later, 32-volt electric lights were installed which made life easier.

The late Ruth Rees.

Ruth was kept very busy on the farm and in 1951 welcomed her eldest child Rosalyn into the family.

It was a hard time for the young family with a premature birth necessitating Ruth staying in Narrabri with her parents for 14 weeks.

Twenty-one months later Lea was born in January 1953, then Tim in February 1958 and Penny in November 1960.

During the drought of 1957-58 Cliff was away much of the time droving cattle.

Ruth was at home with two little girls and a farm to look after by herself.

The local Bellata community built a school house in the paddock near the ‘Yatta’ homestead in 1956.
As a provisional school, the parents not only provided the building but also board and lodging for the teacher.

The teacher often stayed at ‘Yatta’, and Ruth again had extra responsibilities.

While Cliff was away droving during the drought, Ruth had to teach one of the teachers how to kill a sheep, so the family had meat to eat.

All this with no electricity.

By 1958 the electricity commission had promised to provide 240-volt electricity.

However, farms like Yatta were not a priority for the network and there were continued delays, finally getting 240-volt electricity connected in 1961.

By that time the 32-volt generator had been very hard to crank start, and the 30 or so car batteries were not holding charge very well.

By late evening the lights could be quite dim.

As Ruth was the only one of her siblings to be living close to Narrabri, she often had to assist her parents as they aged.

After doing chores and housework at ‘Yatta’ she would drive up to one and a half hours on the 66 kilometres of dirt and gravelled road to Narrabri to do chores and housework for her parents.

Susan had a heart condition with angina, and Harry suffered a fractured pelvis while he was working his horses and had become an invalid.

While Ruth was busy caring for her parents, the children were often sent outside to play and climb the big fig tree to ‘look for figs’, regardless of the season.

Ruth was one of the committee members that started Meals on Wheels in Narrabri, with Harry and Susan becoming early recipients of the meals.

Ruth continued to be a volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels twice a month for the next 43 years.

Ruth had already joined the Junior Red Cross in 1935 when she was just seven years old.

She helped contribute to the war effort in WWII and remained a full member for the rest of her life.

She was a generous donor and assisted at many fundraising activities such as cake stalls and catering for functions.

She was also an active member of the local CWA, the Bellata Matrons’ Ball committee, the Narrabri Historical Society, and the school P&C.

Ruth and Cliff lived at ‘Yatta’ until 1985 when they moved to ‘Yarran Clump’ on Stoney Creek Road, Narrabri.

After moving to ‘Yarran Clump’ and being closer to town, Ruth also served on church cleaning and morning tea rosters and afternoon tea for the kids’ club.

Ruth loved gardening; she loved anything green.

She always had a bloom from her garden on the kitchen window sill.

Whilst not achieving formal art training, Ruth did manage to attend some painting lessons at Narrabri TAFE, and her artistic ability was always displayed in her flower arrangements.

The Bellata Memorial Hall was beautifully decorated for Lea and Bruce’s wedding, with Ruth supervising all the flowers.

As recently as 2023 and 2024 Ruth won prizes for flower arranging at the Narrabri Show.

In 1984 Lea was diagnosed with lymphoma, and after a struggle with the disease Lea sadly died in 1985.

In 1986 Cliff was also diagnosed with cancer, and after a short illness he died in February 1987.

This was devastating to the family, but particularly for Ruth as they had lots of plans after the move to ‘Yarran Clump’ that did not come to fruition. Ruth bravely continued living and working on the farm for 32 years by herself.

Ruth’s father Harry had always been a very committed Anglican, but very private about his faith.

Ruth as the youngest and quietest child in the family, had been allowed to accompany him to 8am communion at an early age.

She was the only one who would sit quietly during the service and must have attended many times, because at the age of four she was witnessed by her dolls and siblings reciting the Anglican communion liturgy with a cup and a hanky as props.

After moving to Bellata, Ruth attended the Anglican church there, regardless of which denomination was taking the service.

Sunday school in Bellata for the girls involved wearing your best dress, hat and gloves.

Ruth loved to read, whether it was fiction or non-fiction, and she never let a book ‘get the better of her’.

The librarian at Narrabri knew what new books would interest Ruth, and would reserve them for her when she came in to exchange books.

A much-appreciated gift for Ruth was always a book.

There were ‘hidey holes’ around the house that Ruth favoured as she tried to finish reading a book without interruptions from the children.

Ruth had always loved animals – dogs, cats, chooks, horses, sheep and cows.

Rough the cat, Ruby the kelpie and others would keep her company, request pats and belly rubs and vocally remind her to feed them.

Her care of Cliff’s kelpies, Mack, Queenie, Tibby and Ruby and their pups was exceptional.

And all her grandchildren loved them too.

They particularly remember putting the dogs and pups in the back of the ute and playing with them there for hours.

Queenie was an exceptional dog. Once when Cliff was away Ruth was trying to yard the sheep; after several hours, way past lunch time, Ruth gave up and went back to the house.

When she returned to the yards there were all the sheep inside the yards with Queenie guarding the gate until Ruth came to close it.

Ruth lived a busy, active life centred around her family and community and caring for them in practical ways.

Her family upbringing had been strict and there was little money for extravagance.

For Ruth, love was expressed by doing things for others, and this carried over to her own family.

There were few occasions when a hug was given or comfort was physical.

Instead, the practical things she did for her children were her expressions of love.

Writing letters separately to all of her children twice a week when they were at boarding school, and cooking all their favourite foods when home on holidays.

The family particularly remember Ruth’s dainty little tarts, crispy pastry, filled with jam or caramel and fresh whipped cream on top.

Ruth adored all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and loved to have them visit.

She was always providing them with things they needed, new jeans or pyjamas, flannelette sheets and toys.

When the family visited she always gave them home made treats or Tim Tams – about 5pm because tea after dark might be a bit late!

Of course, she then complained about them not eating their tea.

For six and a half years, Ruth lived at Whiddon Robert Young and continued reading through their extensive library.

She enjoyed many titles from their collection.

During this time she sadly experienced a continued physical decline and increasing dementia.

Ruth is survived by her children Rosalyn, Tim and Penny and their partners, her grandchildren Michelle and Ben, Michael and Sally, Adam and Nick, and Harriet, Robert and Eleanor, and 17 great-grandchildren.