Aratoi was delighted to learn recently of a bequest of $5,000 from Barbara Anderson. In these hard financial times a bequest is mana from heaven and we are immensely grateful to Barbara for her generosity and forethought.
Barbara grew up in Karori and went to Wellington Girls College. She trained as a teacher and after a stint in rural schools was appointed to Masterton West and later to a senior role at Masterton Intermediate. Her love of music and wide musical ability, developed since childhood, became a key part of her teaching career and decades of children flourished and took pleasure in music under her guidance. Barbara was a keen traveller, and had a wide circle of friends who sustained her to the end of her long life. She was a woman of firm convictions and deep faith, and her friend Margaret Rogers said in her eulogy for Barbara that her Christianity allowed her to accept the end of her life with quiet dignity.
Bequests like Barbara’s reflect the strong ties the Masterton community has to its institutions. Aratoi, as one of those institutions, is sustained by these acts of generous support. We send our thanks and condolences to Barbara’s family and friends.