Historical information
ADA LAURA LYON
Ada Laura Apted was born in 1898 at Queenstown, Victoria the daughter of William Ernest Apted and Sarah Ann Watts
On the 2 July 1923 she married David Andrew Lyon at Panton Hill Vic. The Lyon family are well known for the fleet of small buses they ran out of their Eltham Garage.
In the interim years between becoming married and moving to Eltham (census records indicate they were there in 1931) they lived in several other suburbs including Doncaster and Ivanhoe
At the conclusion of World War 2 the citizens of Eltham decided that a memorial should be made to those of the district who had given their lives during the war. Whilst there had been earlier discussions in 1943 by a body of Eltham Women under the title of "the Women's Auxiliary of the (proposed) Eltham War Memorial Trust'' the first official steps were made on the 27 March 1945 in a meeting by the citizens of Eltham under the title of the Eltham District Progress Association. At this meeting one of the first agenda was the appointment of a committee called "The Eltham War Memorial Trust''. Another was to decision that the Memorial should include:
A Baby Health Centre,
A Children's Library,
And a Pre-School Centre
From the inception of the project Mrs Ada Laura Lyon worked tirelessly as a member of the Women's Auxiliary to raise money for the memorial. At the election of the officers of the Trust Council in 1961 she was elected as one of the three Vice Presidents.
On the 27 September 1962 Ada suddenly passed away. The news of her death was reported at the following Trust meeting. The President Mrs Morrison voiced the feelings of all present that Ada had done so much for the Trust since its inception and had received the satisfaction of seeing the completion of the three units of the War Memorial Trust which had been her goal.
On Tuesday 31 August 1965 the Diamond Valley Mirror reported that on the 28 August 1965 the Eltham War Memorial was transferred from the Eltham Memorial Trust to the Shire of Eltham.
A special tribute was paid to the late Mrs Ada Lyon a foundation member who made the Trust her life. A memorial plaque (the sundial) was unveiled in her memory.
Ada Lyon was interned at Eltham Cemetery on the 28 September 1962. She was survived by her husband David (who passed away on the 25 November 1975) and their two children Betty and Ian. Eltham Methodist Memorial Section Grave 204.
[Author: Jim Allen c.2014]
Physical description
Folder of information on Lyon family.
Contents:
1. Ada Laura Lyon (nee Apted) - biography written by Jim Allen (1 A4 page)
