THE Gordonvale Hospital Friends of the Foundation have recently farewelled their friend and fellow volunteer Evelyn Jorgensen.
One of six children, Evelyn, affectionately known as Evie, was born at Gordonvale Hospital in 1945 to Clive and Kate Faithfull.
She was of the generation who took the rail motor to Cairns each day to attend high school, as there was none in Gordonvale.
As was common for young ladies of her generation, Evie started working at the telephone exchange in Gordonvale and when this closed, she transferred to Melbourne.
But this only lasted a few months as she became home sick and returned home to her family.
Evie became a renowned seamstress and assisted her mother in creating new dresses for her sisters at the start of each new school term. A new outfit also was made for each of them for the movies on a Friday night as well as the dances on a Saturday night.
She worked for Telecom in the Cairns office where she met the love of her life Lindsay Jorgensen
After more than 20 years with Telecom, Evie accepted a redundancy in 1993 and planned to retire but the new Reef Hotel Casino advertised for a wardrobe attendant position, and she helped with the selection of staff uniforms – a position she retired from in 2008.
She discovered a love of cruising, and she and Lindsay took many trips together around Australia and internationally.
Evie had a love of theatre and attended many Cairns Choral Society Productions as well as performances at the Cairns Little Theatre and the CPAC.
When the Southern Suburbs Junior Rugby League building was being constructed, Evie supplied meals to the workers and later helped in catering for patrons and players.
She also spent many years delivering Meals on Wheels in the Gordonvale area and was an active member of the Gordonvale Hospital Friends of the Foundation and the Sunbird Lodge committee.
She was a volunteer reader with Grade One at Gordonvale State School and Tuckshop helper at Gordonvale State Primary and High Schools.
As well as cooking dinner for Gordonvale Lions twice a month, she catered for weddings and other occasions. The desserts she made for the progressive dinners inspired one of the married diners to propose to her.
Many wedding, debutant and graduation dresses were made for young Gordonvale residents, and she was a member of the Pyramid Highland and Irish Dancing Association.
Evie, 79, leaves behind husband Lindsay, two daughters, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
