- MAUD AGNES ROBERTS ( nee HEATHER)
MAUD AGNES HEATHER - later ROBERTS - was born on 21 July 1914 and passed peacefully away on 8 June 2001. At the time she was living with, and was compassionately cared for by, her youngest son, Vincent, in Pretoria.
She was known to her friends as Maudie or Bubbles. Her dear and most mischievous brother Ben always called her Aggie. As daughter, sibling, wife, mother or friend Aggie was always kind. Kindness was her religion. She was never dominant, but her meekness manifest a sturdy and quiet integrity. At times we as her daughters lectured her about being more assertive. She heard us out patiently and then carried on being exactly as she always had been - steadily gentle with every person she met! At heart she was a closet communist - a revolutionary - living out the Sermon on the Mount, always keeping an eye out for those less fortunate and more vulnerable to the brutalities of human nature.
She told her children and grandchildren many stories of her childhood. She loved her siblings dearly and never forgot them - calling them by name as she neared her end and addressing her own children sometimes by the names of her brothers and sisters. Her identity was entirely wed to her love for her parents and her family.
She was witty and she had class. She was always mannerly and gracious and could turn her wit to lighten moments which might otherwise have been fraught with tension or unpleasantness. Known to her grandchildren as 'Mutti' she exemplified all the elements of her loving nature as she esteemed and affirmed each grandchild. They adored her and look back on those times they spent with her as the most precious of their days. They loved to be with her, knowing that she would cherish them every minute of the day. The greatest compliment to her grandchildren is that they are like their grandmother - and each of the four strives to develop the graciousness that was hers.
My mother was not brilliant, academic or obviously well organised, and yet she was a wonderful secretary during her working days, and managed the home routines in a way that created a haven for each member of the family. She lived out her faith in the ordinary acts of love in which she made every relationship meaningful. She treated fancy and humble folk with equal respect. She afforded dignity to each person and every creature she met. To her four children she was the angel at the centre of our family. We were always coming home again to her, and all four of us were with her at the end of her life. She slipped away peacefully between one breath and the next as we gathered around her to bring comfort. Her last words were 'Thank you' in response to our efforts to give her the peaceful end which her nature deserved.
My mother was a most beautiful woman. Even in death she was lovely. Yet, she never became vain or self-seeking. She was always modest. She exercised her spiritual growth as she meditated a daily passage in the 'Path of Truth' booklets which mysteriously arrived for her. The booklet was at her bedside when she died and the reading for the 9th June, the day after her death, reads as follows:
'We are not here as ornaments. Life has been given to us that we may put something into it, enriching it for ourselves and for everyone else. 'Service ' should be our watchword. It enables us to live productively, to help those who are weaker or less endowed, and makes it possible for us to fulfil the good we have received from God. We find ourselves in a material plane of consciousness. It is through work that we demonstrate the Spirit. The Father presses about us closely as we carry out His tasks and whispers assuringly to us "I am with you'.
This was how she lived.
Rest in peace, Aggie. Sweetness is thy name.
BEATRICE, CONSTANCE, VINCENT, LLWELLYN, PADDY, LISA, PETER, PATRICK, CLAIRE, SARAH & MURRAY
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