Florence “Flo” Willcox (the unofficial Vale Queen of Kellyville) who passed away at the age of 102 has been remembered as a community stalwart who genuinely cared for the people around her.
The very full life of the great, great grandmother was celebrated at Kellyville Anglican Church in January when more than 200 people gathered to pay their respects.
The former District Commissioner of Girl Guides was a former President of Castle Hill Ladies Bowling Club (and was Patron) and President of Mitchell District Bowling Club and was still playing lawn bowls at the age of 93.
Born Florence Cassie Garner on May 1st 1921, she studied shorthand and typing to become a stenographer when she left school and during World War 2 enlisted in the Australian Women’s Army Service to work in administration for the Army in several States.
She married Hector Willcox, a dairy farmer, in 1949 and they purchased a 50-acre property in Balmoral Rd, Kellyville which they named Severn Vale Farm after the Severn River in Gloucester, England where Hector had been born. They milked 150 Friesian cows and sold milk to United Dairies at North Rocks. When he died in 1975 the family closed the dairy.
Flo and her sons continued to live on the Kellyville property until most of the land was sold for commercial and housing development and stayed in the area.
In 2018 Balmoral Road was renamed Hector Court and Flo moved to Bella Vista Gardens Nursing Home, a mere 300m from the old Farm’s boundary where Woolworths new Grove shopping Centre exists, Local streets are named after family members including Florence.
Her son Dennis said his mother would love to be remembered as a community minded person who was genuine. Flo and Hector had 3 children (Jean who passed away, Dennis and Glen) and Flo was step mother to Graydon.
She had 10 grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren and nine great, great grandchildren before she passed away in her sleep. She told her son Dennis she loved living in Kellyville because of the “country village feeling and community where everybody looked after each other.”
