Maureen Posth

Maureen Posth

September 30, 1933 - July 24, 2020

Maureen Posth

September 30, 1933 - July 24, 2020

Obituary

Welcome readers, my name is Robert Burton, Maureen Posth’s son. Thank you for coming to this website to celebrate Mothers life. Please sign the guestbook and post a memory. There will be a burial ceremony Tuesday August 4 10am at El Toro Cemetery Park (masks and social distancing enforced)

 

Mother was born Maureen Williams on September 30 1933, a half a world away in Melbourne Australia. Mothers early life shaped the person we celebrate today; someone who is kind, who loves travelling, reading and attending shows.

 

Mother’s grandfather, a wounded WW1 vet, who she affectionately called Pa, regaled mother with stories of Pa’s England. Mother’s travel bug germinated.  Tragedy struck mother in her teens. Both she and her father contracted TB and were sent to the sanatorium. Mother slowly recovered; her father never reached the age of 50.

 

This grim reality prompted Mother to escape in books and ultimately the country of her birth.  Mother named Maureen, Irish for the sea took to the sea in a passenger ship destined for Canada, met my father, both later raising me and my two sisters. I often asked mother about this time in her life and like many women of her generation put her dreams on hold and dedicated her life to motherhood and marriage. Let’s fast-forward to the 1980’s when many of you readers met mother following the death of her second husband. Mother grieved her loss and with your friendship rekindled that dormant travel bug Pa instilled many years ago.

 

Readers, I know about the many trips you have taken with mother because it was my job to sort the pictures in chronological order for her scrapbook. I know about the tour guides, the buses and the many friends she met along the way. I received such detailed accounts I feel I was on the tour with you. Mother and I went on only one trip together. We travelled to London visiting all the tourist sites in record time. Much of the trip consisted of walking down steps, catching the tube then walking back up the steps. Walking to the bus, walking to the ferry and concluding with a walking tour of Jack the Ripper. Never complaining. Whether it was tea and scones at Harrods or shopping at Notting Hill, mother was always up for the challenge. We saw Guys and Dolls, enjoyed cream at intermission and belted out the worst rendition of Luck Be A Lady while walking back to our room. Oh, mother we had fun!

 

As mother aged her once charismatic social skills were reduced to repeating “And how are you doing today?” to any person nearby. Like the Target checker or the bald-headed woman receiving chemotherapy both touched by mother’s genuine kindness. One of her last days, I woke her up to give her pain pills and help her to the bathroom. She opened her eyes and with that bright smile of hers said “and how are you doing today Bob? I nodded with a tear in my eye and replied we’ve had better days mother haven’t we. I will miss you mother.

Graveside Service

  • Date & Time: August 4, 2020 (10:00 AM)
  • Venue: El Toro Memorial Park
  • Location: 25751 Trabuco Road Lake Forest, CA 92630 - (Get Directions)
  • Phone Number: (949) 951-9102

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15 responses to Maureen Posth

  1. .
    I have said a final goodbye to my beautiful sister. We spent most of our lives half a world away from each other which made each meeting special and each goodbye possibly the last,
    You have only been gone a few days but already I miss you. I will miss our long telephone conversations, I will miss the happy talk and I will miss your wisdom.
    Now I have no-one to reminisce with about the old days – those early years when we were children together.
    You will always be in my heart.

  2. She will be mist by me and my family. Great memories of the visits down under . To see Dad and her together just reminiscing about the old times was just priceless. A Brother and Sisters love for one another R.I.P

  3. Auntie Maureen was a wonderfully kind, generous and fun person to be with. While she lived much of her adult life in what we Australians would call “overseas”, our lives have all been punctuated over the years by her visits back to Melbourne – sometimes with Bob, Vicki and Cathy – and by our own trips to Los Angeles. Although we have been separated by distance and time, all of us have happy memories of these family reunions, and it seemed we would all just pick up where we left off from the previous visit. When some of us visited Maureen in Irvine, she was unfailingly welcoming and generous with her time towards her extended Australian family.

    The thing we remember in particular is the very close relationship between Maureen and her sister – our mother – Norma. Over the years they were in frequent contact by one means or the other, and a highlight of every Christmas Day was a call between mum and Maureen, at a time when international calls were difficult and expensive to make. These would usually go on way too long, with a few tears being shed, but it serves to emphasize how close they were despite the distances separating them.

    When they were together in person, Norma and Maureen were always talking, laughing and singing (perhaps accompanied by a glass of white wine!). Although quite different in nature, they had remarkably similar mannerisms and quirks, the most noticeable for us being their tendency to burst into song without warning, triggered by a word, a place, or a shared memory of an old musical they both loved. Needless to say, when our mother and Maureen were together there was no such thing as a quiet moment, and they cherished these rare times when they could be together again.

    Maureen once said she had “wanderlust” – an innate desire to travel and explore – and her life is testament to this. She left Australia in the mid-1950s and made a life in Los Angeles, returning to live in Australia for only a few years in the mid-1970’s. Despite this – as her email address “Girl from Oz” suggests – Maureen never let go of her Australian roots, and maybe – as the Peter Allen song goes – she still called Australia home.

    Maureen, thanks from all of us for the memories of times spent together either here or in Irvine, drinking white wine in the sun with all the family.

    With love and condolences,

    Jan Dircks
    Sandra Embling
    Anne-Maree McRae
    Michael Robinson

  4. Phyl & Phil says:

    Our Beautiful Maureen, You treated us to your Aussie charm with your darling accent and your “ism’s”…like “Full up to Pussy’s bow”! You brought that god-awful Vegwmite and laughed at the faces we all made at our book club meeting. You made us laugh when you shared your first confession! Your shared your love for your family especially your baby brother. You now join your parents and sister Norma as you wait for the rest of us. You will always be in our minds and hearts. We will speak of you with joy and laughter always remembering and treasuring the fantastic times we shared.

  5. Phyl & Phil says:

    Our Beautiful Maureen, You treated us to your Aussie charm with your darling accent and your “ism’s”…like “Full up to Pussy’s bow”! You brought that god-awful Vegwmite and laughed at the faces we all made at our book club meeting. You made us laugh when you shared your first confession! Your shared your love for your family especially your baby brother. You now join your parents and sister Norma as you wait for the rest of us. You will always be in our minds and hearts. We will speak of you with joy and laughter always remembering and treasuring the fantastic times we shared.

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