Obituary: Leah Ruby Francis

Leah Ruby Francis of The Esplanade, Ettalong, died on April 18.

She was born on March 15, 1933, in the Sydney suburb of Newtown.

Birth records show that her mother was Nellie Wilson and her father's name was Eric Brown.

Shortly after her birth she became a ward of the state.

In October 1933, Leah was fostered by the Anforth family, Isobel (whom she called "Aunt") and Isobel's parents, and Vic, and Jack.

The family owned and ran a fruit shop in Forest Rd, Hurstville.

The children helped out in it from an early age.

Leah lived with them from October 1933 until she walked to the church to marry Leo when she was 33.

At age five, Leah was a weekly boarder at "The NSW Institute for the Deaf, the Dumb and the Blind", in Darlington, Sydney.

Leah attended for one year, before the school was closed to be handed over to the air force for the war effort.

Her school re-opened when she was eight as "Wahroonga School for the Blind".

From age 16 until she finished school two years later, Leah attended Hornsby Girls' High School.

Here Leah formed lifelong friendships with Margaret Sharp, Pam Larsen and Barbara Telfer.

It was a real break into mainstream education.

After school, Leah gained a scholarship to "Sydney Teachers' College" located in the grounds of Sydney University.

Leah was the first blind student to attain a scholarship.

There she met Marie Retallic during her two years of study.

Her first jobs after college were in hospital units for disabled children.

In 1954 and 1955, Leah taught at Wahroonga School for the Blind.

Roslyn Sloane, Marilyn Jones and Sandy Dark were amongst her students.

At 24, she won the Rotary International Scholarship.

She taught at the New York Institute for Education of the Blind, and studied teaching methods in Nashville, USA.

She travelled to Europe to observe more schools and make a visit to the Rose Garden in Salzberg.

Back in Australia Leah became a proof-reader of braille books at Asquith Primary School while studying part-time for a Bachelor of Arts at Sydney University.

Leah met Leo in 1964 across the enquiries counter of the Australian Taxation Department.

They kept in contact, and attended night classes together at Sydney University.

They worked closely together during their two years of Economics 1 and 2.

Leo was pursuing an Economics degree; Leah was studying for Arts Honours which she completed in 1969.

Leah and Leo were married December 10, 1966.

They spent their first years together in Glebe.

Andrew Justin was born January 8, 1970; Matthew David arrived May 21, 1971; and when Leah had just turned 40 she gave birth to Philip Mark on April 25, 1973.

The family moved to Albury in 1973.

Leo went down to teach accountancy at TAFE for three years of compulsory country service.

The years 1975-1977 were spent in the Solomon Islands with Australian Aid.

Leo taught commerce at Honiara Technical Institute. Leah taught at the teachers' college.

When she was 45, they returned to settle in Gosford.

Leah started to work for the Child Development Unit at the Royal Blind Society at Burwood.

Leah and Robyn Wellington formed a firm friendship while commuting together from the Central Coast.

Leah worked there for over a decade.

Meanwhile, Leah had become a music therapist, and a founding member of the Australian Music Therapy Association.

Lou Poulson was a co-founder.

In 1989, Leah joined the University of Western Sydney where she co-ordinated the Vision course in the Special Education Department.

After another 10 years of working, Leah finally retired in March 1999, at the age of 65.

Leah was a supporter and participant at the National Braille Music Camp for many years preceding 2002.

In the new century, two groups of colleagues and friends sought to have Leah's significant contribution to the community recognised.

In 2001, Leah Ruby Francis was made a Member of the Order of Australia (A.M.).

Andrew Francis, April 23