Lesley Merlene Carroll: Eulogy

Hi everyone and thanks for coming to celebrate the life of Lesley Carroll.

We have just been through a tender weekend as it was Susan’s birthday on Saturday and Suse and Vito’s wedding anniversary on Sunday.

Les did not want a funeral and asked that we have family and a few close friends come together and tell stories about her, have a few drinks and a laugh.

Lesley Merlene McDonald was born to Gertrude May and Hector Allen McDonald on 23 October 1934 with brother Ross coming along 5 years later.

Lesley and Ross McDonald grew up at 29 Essex Street Wembley.

Husband to James Arthur Carroll, Mother to David, Bruce and Susan, grandmother to Christopher, Emma, Mia and Alyssa and their partners Shannon, Tony, Daniel and Fraser and Great Grandmother to Oliver.

Mum told me that 29 Essex Street was always full of happiness and laughter.

My earliest memories are what I think were New Years Eve parties at 29 Essex Street, where we ran up and down the driveway with our cousins and the adults were giants.

During WW 2 children and women were evacuated to the country for fear of an attack or invasion by the Japanese. Les and Ross were evacuated to stay with relatives at Wyalkatchem.

Les went to Wembley Primary School and then to Girdlestone High School on James Street from 1947 to 1949.

Les worked for doctors, an accounting firm and Royal Perth Hospital before commencing work for Orthopedic Surgeon, Sir George Bedbrook in November 1956, whom she worked for until his death in 1991.

Les made many lifelong friends while working for Sir George including Dawn and John Van Leen.

I have early memories of Mum typing out the accounts into the night from shorthand notes and a ‘dictaphone’ onto a manual typewriter, long before technology and “word processors” were a reality.

Les met Jim during 1958 at the Embassy Ballroom in Perth where young people gathered to meet and dance.

Les was a bit wary of Jim Carroll and told him her name was Mary Smith. Dad went home that night and told his Mum Lillian that he had met the girl he is going to marry and her name was Mary Smith.

Jim wanted to take Les out but Les refused to go pillion on his motorbike, so Jim had to stump up some of his hard earned, and he purchased a green second hand Morris Minor so he could take Les out in the style to which she was accustomed or preferred.

Les and Jim were engaged in 1959 and married on Saturday 15 October 1960 at Saint Edmunds Wembley, and after living in South Perth for a while took a mortgage out on 7 Grenville Street Tuart Hill with a housing loan of 2,750 pounds from the Commonwealth Bank in 1962.

David came along in 1963 followed by Bruce in 1965 and Susan in 1968 and family life was idyllic at 7 Grenville Street.

Playing kicky on the ovals across and up the road, riding our bikes around the neighborhood, going to the close by schools and having time to muck around before and after school, digging forts and having boondy fights with the neighborhood kids – the Greens, Kimbers, Evans’s, Felton’s, Lazaroo’s, Henderson’s, Binks’s, Creswell’s and Davenport’s.

And of course next door – the Tolmioles at number 5 Grenville Street

Living next door to Rae, Deb, Cookie and Bruce

To me as an innocent youngster it seemed like years of seemingly endless rounds of chit chat and gossip, sitting around Aunty Rae’s kitchen table would be Aunty Rae, Cookie and Les, smokes, ash trays, King Brown Emu Export shandies in pony glasses on the table, quite often Aunty Maunie was there and a bit later on Bruce Prior, Aunty Rae’s boyfriend was there enjoying the banter, beer and smokes.

In the beginning the only phone in the Street was at Aunty Rae’s who used to come in to fetch mum when there was a work phone call for her.

When we finally got a phone of our own, along with colour TV, we weren’t allowed to use it because it was a “work phone” which meant we couldn’t use it when Dad was around.

Dad would often say no to our requests but we only had to wait for him to disappear and ask Mum who would almost always be obliging and acquiesce to our requests.

The plethora of “Dad Rules” would vanish out the door with Dad. Like watching Early Birds on Channel 7 during school holidays or eating “fast food”.

Mum wasn’t a soft touch, just more measured and compassionate and less inclined to follow the rules.

Les and Jim provided the perfect balance of guidance, discipline and freedom and were a great balanced match for each other. Big hugs were often the order of the day with Dad dragging everyone into them.

But fear went through the house and kids became scarce when something was missing from the garage or broken.

Family holidays were at Siesta Park, Busselton and Albany with camping trips to Guilderton and Dr Griffiths farm at Chittering. We frequented many popular spots including Bunker Bay, Sugar Loaf Rock and Canal Rocks great areas for playing and exploring.

Les and Jim supported and provided for all of our hobbies and activities from Cubs, Scouts and Venturers to football, netball, cycling, surfing, photography and Susie’s horse ownership and riding.

They also helped us through our apprenticeships and all of the assignments that came with them.

During our teenage years friends were coming and going, first on push bikes then cars arrived and 7 Grenville looked like a car yard, mum and dad adapted to whatever was going on or whatever we needed to do or improve.

One discussion surrounded whether to buy a pool table, ski boat or block of land at Eagle Bay, the pool table won and it was on the verge a few years later.

The grandkids started arriving in the late 90’s with Christopher followed by Emma, Mia and Alyssa and recently Great Grandchild Oliver.

The breadth and depth of Les and Jim’s love for their grandchildren was unfathomable and they spent as much time as they could enjoying watching and participating in their development.

As grandparents they had the time and patience to make the most of the opportunities and they recognised this.

Dad often said to me that Mum was the most beautiful woman in the world and his life would be over without her.

This was never more evident than when mum was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy in 1986, luckily Mum recovered fully from this ordeal.

In 2007 Mum and Dad downsized out of Grenville Street and into 10A Fagan Street Yokine and activities continued there.

Unfortunately Dad developed dementia and eventually went into high care where he died in May 2016.

Wherever mum worked or played she gathered friends usually for life, tennis, squash, the Sir George Bedbrook team at Collin Grove, scouts and Venturers

Jim had an enormous sense of humour and was always on the lookout for a suitable target for practical jokes (Dawn notably amongst them), Mum also had a great sense of humour and always found reason to laugh or smile.

Lesley was a quiet achiever who worked conscientiously and diligently to achieve one aim – a good life for her family. A gentle person with a pure soul; she had compassion and empathy for people and animals and wouldn’t say or hear a bad word about anyone.

She would look for and find the best in everyone with boundless patience.

Mum, we will forever love and miss you and will cherish and smile at the memories we have with you. We take comfort in the knowledge that you will always be with us and by our side, together with Susan and Jim, as you are part of us.

David Carroll

22 July 2026