Kathleen Allam

At the age of 55, with her kids off her hands, Kathleen Allam decided to work towards her dream of becoming an artist. She turned her spare room into a studio and over the next 16 years produced 150 works depicting the beauty of life in her Red Hill neighbourhood - the quaint Queenslanders set in lush gardens and the people who inhabited them.  

Mrs Allam died last month aged 71 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. At her funeral on June 7, her casket was adorned with pictures of her colourful artworks. It served to remind the 150 guests of the midlife pursuit that brought her great joy.  

Son Chris Ban told the mourners, "I think it is fair to say, Mum you are an accomplished artist. You are creative, talented and truly unique."  

Mrs Allam was devoted to her four children and five grandchildren and worked for 42 years at the Sunday Sun and Courier Mail where she made many good friends.  

She cherished these friendships, recalled Mr Ban in his tribute to his mother.   "Mum had lots of friends. This is because mum really cherished friendship, and she cared for those friends as they cared for her."  

Read his moving tribute there.  

I first met Mum at 6:06 on Thursday night, the 18th of May, 1972. My name is Chris and I am Kathy's eldest son. On this day I had the honour of having her to myself for 23 minutes, after which Mum's second bundle of joy turned up, my twin brother Joe. There were two more children to follow in the years to come, Marija and Simeon.  

Mum was warm, kind and above all a carer, she spent most of her life looking after people. My relationship with Mum has always been one of friendship, she has been one of the best friends I have ever had. We never asked of anything of each other, however always gave when needed.  

Growing up, she was always kind and respectful to all my friends and they loved her for it. She did her best to make sure, we her children, had the same opportunities as everyone else. Mum did this by making sure all her children went to good schools, had clothes on their back and shoes on their feet. She did this through hard work, and for that I thank her.  

Kathleen Mary Allam, the eldest of nine children, was born on the 7th of May, 1952, in Murwillumbah, where she lived for a little while till Grampa Bill moved the family to a banana farm with cattle in Doon Doon. In the time spent in northern NSW mum welcomed into the world her one little brother and five sisters. Adventures on the farm were sometimes stressful for the ever-responsible eldest sibling, protecting the younger ones from angry bulls and a swollen creek.  

Mum always talked about her fond memories of living on the farm and the fun and mischief she got up to with Uncle Bill and Aunty Marian. A favourite story of mine, is the time the three of them were rolling down a hill and mum rolled her head through a wet cow paddy. I was talking to Aunty Marian recently on the matter and she is still laughing about it today.  

Mum attended Doon Doon state school and topped the class each year. Her parents felt she needed more of an academic challenge, so she was sent to boarding school at Uki convent and travelled home on weekends. Known for her academic achievements and being crowned banana princes at the age of 11, mum was awarded a scholarship for St Mary Convent Lismore to commence her high school years.  

She also cherished the fact that she lived so close to her own Grandmother and Aunties, who she credits, many of the influence in her life to. At the age of 13 the family moved closer to Murwillumbah.  

Here the family stayed till Mum was in her mid-teens, after which the family moved to Brisbane where Mum attended school at Lourdes Hill College, which was just up the road from the family home.  

After Mum finished grade 12, she went straight into nursing which she did for 18 months and found it wasn't for her, so she got herself a job in Myers in the Valley. At about the same time she met my father, got married and started a family.  

She was a homemaker for the first couple of years, and a busy one at that, then she managed to get herself a job with her mother and sister Rossie at the Sunday Sun, which would be the start of a 40-year relationship in newspapers.  

Kathy was a beloved Nan to Mary, Sam, Jaydan, David and Thomas. She was everything and more in what you would imagine a grandparent to be. It was if she took everything she learnt from being a parent, and doubled it. Double the love, double the friendship, double the fun. Before mum became unwell, she would spend at least one day a week, sometimes two with my two little boys for a number of years. I had forgotten how much fun she was able to create with one game of hide and seek, two games of eye spy, a walk to the park via the fish and chip shop and a one stop bus ride home. Just simple stuff, and my children loved it.  

There is another very special person in mum's life, she was mum guardian angel. She wasn't asked to, but she quit her job six months ago and decided to care for mum full-time. Denisa, in mum's eyes you where her second daughter and she loved you greatly. We as a family can never  repay you for what you have done for Mum, however we will try. 

Friends, mum had lots of friends. This is because mum really cherished friendship, and she cared for those friends as they cared for her. Believe me when I say this, right now she is missing you more than you miss her.   As you all know, mum was an artist. When she was young, she dabbled in drawing, when we her children where young she started to paint. It wasn't that much, as she was always working.  

In 2007 I was living in Adelaide, by chance I rented a room in a house with one of Australia's top collectable Artist. Mum decided to visit me for my 35th birthday and got to know James, my house mate. She spent time talking to James about his works and had great admiration for his painting gallery in the rear of the house. Mum was 55 and had all her children off her hands now. On this weekend she had decided to work   Toward becoming what she had always dreamt of being, an artist.  

Mum returned home, turned her spare room into somewhere she could work and began to paint. What she found in herself, was unique, distinctive and incomparable to anything else, but her. She truly found something that just identified her.  

For the last 16 years, mum has shown us all the beauty of the area she lived in for 33 years. Mum had a number of gallery showings over the last 10 years and worked very hard in her 60s to promote all her work. Many of you here, enjoy Mum's impressions hanging in your homes as she always made time to paint for friends and family.  

I only ever asked Mum to paint 1 picture once and what a great job she did. I was visiting a family friends in Devonport and fell in love with their 100-year-old home. I thought, mum must paint this home. She produced something exceptional by capturing the outside and inside of the home on one canvas in her unique style. Mum very much enjoyed thoughtful, personalised gifts of her work. That work is still in the care of that family and displayed proudly in their home.  

With over 150 pieces of mum's work in existence, mostly commissions, I think it is fair to say, Mum you are an accomplished artist. You are creative, talented and truly unique. Everyone here today is proud to have known you.   Mum, we say goodbye to you on this day and wish you well on your journey.  

You are missed, you are loved and you did make a difference.