“VALE our Mrs Coldstream”.
The words with which John Brown closed his tribute to Val Sheehan at her farewell ‘garden party’, brought smiles and nods of recognition that Val was indeed ‘Mrs Coldstream’.
Speaking as vice-president of the Lilydale and District Historical Society, Mr Brown’s tribute was one of many that highlighted Val’s love of and commitment to her home town.
People from all walks of life sat in the sunshine in the Coldstream garden of Val’s daughter, Christine, to pay respects to ‘Mrs Coldstream’.
She was remembered as an articulate, kind and caring woman with a quiet determination and a generous spirit.
Valda was born at Koondrook on 2 April 1927, the second of Bill and May Skate’s eight children.
She was 16 when the Skate family moved to Coldstream in 1943 and she would have been 88 on the day of her ‘garden party’.
Her brother Les Skate painted a picture of a typical, happy rural childhood in Barham and said Val was a top student.
She obtained her Intermediate Certificate and received a scholarship to Dacomb’s Business College in Melbourne where she worked for a time after graduating.
Locally, Val worked at the Coldstream Post Office and General Store and then at Spicer’s Shoe Factory in Lilydale.
She met husband-to-be Kevin Sheehan at the Yarra Glen Dance and it was a happy day for the Sheehans when they bought the timber cottage on the corner of Station Street and Maroondah Highway.
It was where they raised their five children, Kathleen, Rosemary, Christine, Eileen and Will, and it was right in the centre of town.
The Sheehan home became a gathering place for friends of the Sheehan kids and their mum was loved and respected by all as Auntie Val.
In the early years the local football and cricket ground was the paddock behind the Sheehan home and Val was a staunch supporter, renowned for her excellent finals’ banners.
After Kevin’s death, Val continued to work for several families in the area. She became a lifelong friend to those she worked for, including Pamela Lady Vestey, granddaughter of Melba, for whom she worked for 39 years.
She became a close friend and companion and worked at Coombe Cottage right up until the last two weeks of her life.
Pamela Lady Vestey nominated Val for a Yarra Ranges Council Certificate of Recognition in 2005 for her contribution to the Coldstream area, part of which had been researching the vast collection of information held at Coombe Cottage on Melba.
History was Val’s ultimate passion and part of that was recognising, in words, and in deed, the men of the district who served in war.
She and Les were instrumental in erecting the Coldstream and Yering War Memorial which was unveiled in 1995.
Val joined the Lilydale and District Historical Society in 1990 and was made a life member in 2008 for her outstanding contribution to researching and recording of local history for the old Shire of Lillydale.
Years of research into the history of Coldstream, Gruyere, Yering and Killara resulted in four books, with a fifth still to be published.
In September last year was presented with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria Award of Merit by the RHS president.
Mr Brown said Val had left a wonderful legacy.
“She was a quiet achiever, she held wise counsel, she listened, she was a doer, she had great knowledge, she was a tireless researcher, she had an inquiring mind and she had a spirit of calm,” he said.
It wasn’t all work for Val, however. Myrna McBain remembered Val as a friend who was a staunch Hawthorn supporter, loved a good cup of coffee, tennis on the TV, sprucing up second-hand dolls, visiting the Wandin auction rooms, long phone calls about plants and gardens, feeding the magpies in her garden, going to the movies and family outings.
She was a wonderful mother and grandmother and a great support to her family.
Val passed away after a short illness on 27 March.
Coldstream’s sweet heart, and much-loved matriarch will be greatly missed by her loving family and all who knew her.
– KATH GANNAWAY
