JESSIE LELLO
15 September 1916 – 30 March 1958
(by her oldest daughter, February 2005)
Jessie and her twin sister Jean were the youngest children of Harry Lello and Bessie Johnston. When they were born their mother Bessie was a practising midwife in the area of South Queenstown where they lived in the house that Harry built for them in Conlan Street. The house "grew like Topsy" from a small two-roomed cottage, to cope with the growing family.
Bessie was also a local "wet nurse" and must have been nourishing children for years non-stop! At the time of her own twins' birth she was also feeding another set of twins whose mother was unable to feed her own. Jessie and Jean attended the South Queenstown School and Jessie was later to follow her older sisters Nell and Edie as a teacher at this school.
The twins were non-identical. Jessie was blonde with wavy hair and blue eyes, whereas Jean had straight brown hair and brown eyes. When Jean died of Tuberculosis leaving her three-year-old daughter Frances without a mother, her twin Jessie took her niece into her own family. Jessie had a sweet, clear singing voice but learnt to whistle early in life and continued doing so throughout her days. She learnt to whistle many classical melodies, obviously from her musical father, but when begged by her daughter Marion for the names of these, could rarely supply the titles.
Very wisely, she taught Marion and Francie to sing harmonies while the eternal washing-up was done, which always made the dreaded chore somehow lighter and easier to bear. Jessie was a talented pianist and ever ready to accompany sing-songs around the piano at parties. Her greatest joy was when Pat bought her a piano while living at Lake Margaret. Considering it had to be transported out by smallgauge rail on a chancy goods truck, it was a small miracle it survived the journey! Because of the very damp atmosphere there, an electric light bulb had to be fixed inside the casing to prevent damage by mould and in an attempt to keep it in tune. Her children were more taken with the huge crate the piano arrived in!
Jessie excelled in handicrafts. Her embroidery and crochet work were exquisite, as were the smocking and lace-making. She loved to read and was an ardent patron of the local library. Crosswords and general knowledge quizzes were also a specialty and her family used to wonder where she learned all she knew. In the evenings in front of the fire with the family all participating in the latest hooked-rug project, she would keep everyone thinking with her own early version of Trivial Pursuit.
She and Pat joined the South Queenstown Badminton Club and had regular evenings at the hall across the railway line and even travelled away to compete in friendly matches with other clubs around the state on a couple of occasions. This didn't happen often as most of the members had young families and child-minders were few and far between. Jessie was a competent player but never looked like becoming a champion! Like most members she enjoyed the social side of the game more than the sport itself.
Jessie became increasingly debilitated with high blood pressure which had worsened with each pregnancy, requiring hospitalisation for stabilising more frequently in her late thirties, and at the age of just forty-one years suffered concurrent strokes and died without recovering consciousness, five months before her first grandchild was born.
She was a gentle, tolerant, sweet-natured lady who enjoyed her life and many friends.