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THE KEENAN FAMILY in Australia

Barbara June Crosby (nee Keenan)  (1945 - 2007)

Last updated 23 November 2023

Australian Generation:  Third
Parents:  Wilfred Walter Keenan and Venda Cavell Nolan
Born: 11 February 1945  at Tumut, New South Wales, Australia
Married:  Rowland Lance Crosby, on 9 November 1963 at St Augustine's C of E, Shepparton, Victoria. Rowland (aka Roland) was born 15/2/1944. He passed away on 8 April 2008. He was a renouned Aussie Rules player and coach in Shepparton and Tasmania. (Rowland's mother: Frances Eveline Crosby nee Collins, 9 June 1916 - 12 July 2003.)
Occupation: (most recent) Real estate sales and administration
Residence: (most recent) Williamstown, Victoria, Australia
Deceased: 21 January 2007 (brain aneurysm/hemorrhage). 
Buried: Funeral service held at St Augustine's Church of England, Maude Street, Shepparton, 29 January 2007. Later cremated.  Plaques are at St Augustine's Church, Shepparton, and at Pine Lodge Cemetery, Shepparton East.  Her mother and father are also buried at Pine Lodge Cemetery.

Children:

Photographs:

Barbara Crosby (nee Keenan) on her wedding day:.

Barbara Keenan wedding day - by herself


Barbara Crosby (nee Keenan) with Rowland Crosby and families on her wedding day:

Barb Wedding Rowland and families


Barbara Crosby (nee Keenan)

Thank-you card issued upon her passing:


Tribute to Barbara June Crosby (nee Keenan) (1945-2007)

Written by her brother, Peter Keenan

It's hard to comprehend how, that less than 9 years after Dad's death and just 15 years after Mum's death, we are here, again, saying goodbye to a loved one. But this time it's to my big sister, Barbara: someone taken from us at only 62, and in the prime of her life.

Our pain is nothing when compared with that which Rowland and his family are experiencing and will continue to feel for a long time. Our hearts go out to them.

When Barb's friend, Julie Ryan, suggested that I start these tributes, she said "After all, you've known her the longest". That's probably true. But I moved to Melbourne 40 years ago. So, of course, Rowland and her children, and many of her friends, know her better than I.

My more recent memories of Barb are of her kindness. She understood how I felt. She'd listen. Nothing was too much trouble for her. She was a real friend.

At a family event, Barbara and Geoff's wife, Rosie, would be busy doing most of the work and doing their best to make everyone welcome and comfortable.

I tried to make up for lost time when Barb moved to Melbourne a couple of years ago. But it was hard to catch up with her. It seems that she and Rowland always had visitors, or were visiting someone, or were going somewhere, doing something. That was Barbara. I don't think she would have had it any other way.

It seems to me that Barb got a lot of pleasure from the simple things in life: things that we often take for granted. She loved friendships. Walking in the bush, or by the beach. Bike riding. Sport. A good yarn. Being with her children and grandchildren. Seeing her nieces and nephews grow up.

When Shaun asked me what I'd be talking about today so that we didn't cover the same ground, my first thought was to say something about the Nolan's, that is, our mother's side of the family.

Barbara loved keeping in touch with her cousins, uncles and aunties, particularly those on the Nolan side. She was very fond of her Uncle Doug, Doug's wife Lorraine, and Aunty Edna, the wife of our Uncle Ron. Barb and Rowland visited Doug and Lorraine in New South Wales many times and enjoyed their company immensely. Today Barb would feel honoured, knowing that both Uncle Doug - who is in his 80's - and Aunty Edna - who is in her 90's - are here, after travelling from Sydney and other parts of New South Wales with cousins David, Gordon and Julie Nolan. I'm sure that lots of other Nolan and Keenan cousins are here today in spirit.

In the last few days I've heard a couple of songs that, for me, touch upon aspects of Barb's life and death. "Yesterday", by The Beatles, now has special meaning. "Why she had to go I don't know". "I believe in yesterday".




MORE PHOTOS TO COME (PJK -Nov 2023).