Elizabeth Jean Gellert Tribute

Elizabeth Jean Coad was born on February 14, 1939.  She was the oldest of 12 children to come.  A very busy house.  Born in Victoria she remained there until the late 1970's before making the big move to Queensland.  Whilst in Victoria she accomplished a Registered Nursing Degree and went on to practice nursing for 35 years.  She met and married my Dad Carl Gellert in 1963 and they were married on February 13, 1965.  Two children followed firstly me in September 1971 and then my brother in January 1974.  They packed us up and moved to Mt Isa in 1977 where we stayed for a couple of years before being uplifted again and moving to Brisbane where she was until the day of her departure.  Mum doted on her grandchildren early on but health and relationships got in the way of that, so towards the later part of her life, she didn't get to see too much of her grandkids.  My mother was a very complex character, having suffered mental illness for the last 25yrs of her life especially depression life seemed to be a constant battle of some sort.  Some days were more draining than others.  I think between her battle with depression the loss of her best friend and my father was enough to drive her to the point of no return, so when a stroke finally claimed her, she gave up the battle to keep going.