Ina Muriel Edmeades nee Fitness
Ina Muriel Fitness was the second daughter of Ralph Edwin and Alice May Fitness nee Scrivener. Ina was born in Cambridge in 1917, but moved with her family to the Putaruru District as a baby.
Ina attended Putaruru School, passing her Proficiency Certificate and then completed the 4th Form at the District High School. The family were heavily involved in Church activities and building the local community. Ina and Shelagh demonstrated this commitment when they took up the role of teaching Sunday school on many of the local marae, cycling as far afield as Arapuni or Whakaratamaiti to teach. After school Ina spent a brief period working in Putaruru as an office junior with the accountant Mr Dukeson, as well as assisting her parents on the family farm. In 1937 Ina moved away from home, and began training as a Maternity Nurse at Bethany Hospital with the Salvation Army but left after a year to marry Robert Edmeades. Ina and Robert married at the home of her parents in Overdale in 1938. The couple took up residence in Tapapa Road (now Whites Road), Putaruru, where Bob continued farming. The following decades were filled with raising her busy family of 10 children, continuing in her work with the Church, and sharing with the community. Ina had a great love of music and singing, a joy she shared with her husband and children. Ina had learnt to play the violin as a child, while her sisters all learnt piano. As an adult she was an enthusiastic member of a number of choirs. She was also an excellent seamstress, having had lessons with a dressmaker in Putaruru during her late teens, a skill that must have come in handy with a large family. Later in life, Ina and Bob were able to enjoy travel overseas, including journeys to Israel, South Africa, and to England to see the places significant in their family histories. The couple also moved briefly to Mount Maunganui, but returned to Putaruru in 1984. After Bob's death in 1985, Ina set resolutely about the business of living alone, first in Overdale Village and then at Rangiura Heights in Putaruru. During this period, Ina continued her extensive family history research, and wrote a book about her experiences in life. She took great pride and joy in her extended family, which included almost 50 great grandchildren by the time Ina died in 2011. |