Eulogy presented at the funeral of Helene Jones OAM (October 30, 2012) by Alan Demack...

Helene Jones OAM 1.12.1917-23.10.2012

Some years ago Helene asked me if I would deliver the eulogy at her funeral service. The request surprised me, but Helene generated such affection and respect that I was delighted to comply.

My contact with Helene was initially through the Rockhampton Chamber Music Society. Most of you who have come to share this service have been informed and encouraged by her love of music. We each have our own particular musical tastes, but we all use music to lift us above the mundane in life. Helene helped us to rise even higher, to find more beautiful, more worthy, places for our minds to roam.

Helene Jane Emily Matilda Baird was born in Belfast on 1 December 1917, the youngest of six children. Her eldest sister, Nora, seventeen years her senior, was already a music teacher, and marking out what would be a long and distinguished career in music.

At an early age, Nora began to teach Helene to play the piano. Later, Nora would confide to her intimate friends that Helene was the most brilliant of all the students she ever tutored.

In 1927 the Baird family migrated to Brisbane without Nora, who was preparing students for examinations. For a year Helene had no piano and no teacher. Nora's arrival in Brisbane in 1928 ended that period of deprivation.

It could easily have been that, living under the shadow of a brilliant elder sister, Helene's talent may have been stunted. This did not happen. ‘During 1928-29 she made herself a reputation in Brisbane Eisteddfod work', the ABC publication Teleradio reported. In the years of 1936 and 1937 she gained honours in four Diplomas of Music offered in Queensland. In two examinations she gained the highest marks of any Queensland student, and in each case received a medal.

That was a period when radio was beginning to be very popular, and live performances were offered both on the ABC and on commercial stations. Helene regularly performed for radio audiences. She also accompanied choirs and soloists.

The following paragraph in Teleradio of July 24, 1937, gives an interesting insight into the mind of an almost twenty-year-old Helene:

‘Questioned as to her ambitions, Helene could scarce speak quickly enough to enumerate them all. "I want to do so many things that I am starting systematically to do some each year. At present I am dancing and playing tennis; knitting a set of winter cardigans, writing letters to friends in countries as far off as Palestine, British Guiana and Nigeria. I love writing letters when I have the time." ‘

In 1941 she became a Fellow of Trinity College, London. Having completed her studies at the Teachers' Training College, Helen joined the Education Department. In 1943, she was appointed official accompanist for the Department. In 1957 she was asked to initiate a music course in State High Schools.

The post-war years saw a broadening of Brisbane's musical scene. The Queensland Symphony Orchestra, and, later, the Queensland Conservatorium, opened a range of possibilities. Helene took full advantage of this new dynamic, as music teacher, concert pianist and accompanist.

Having stated all too briefly some of the things which made Brisbane music lovers admire the musicianship and style of her pianist's art, it is time to move to Rockhampton.

Helene married Les Jones on 9 November 1966. She immediately became part of a larger family, with a stepson, Neil, and a stepdaughter, Avis, together with Neil's wife, Jean, and Avis's husband, Paul. As each of these couples had children of their own, she became an instant grandmother.

With the kind of enthusiasm which Teleradio had reported in 1937, she became fully involved in Les's business and community activities. Les was an Alderman of the City of Rockhampton, and supporter of a number of community organisations.

Les died in 1977, but those eleven years had been both busy and fulfilling for Helene.

However, although Les brought Helene in touch with new areas of interest, Helene continued her involvement in musical activities. For someone who first won the ‘Under Nine' section at the Belfast Musical Competition when aged seven, interest and involvement in the Rockhampton Eisteddfod was entirely natural.

When the Rockhampton Chamber Music Society was formed in 1973, Helene became a member. Rockhampton Youth Orchestra, Rockhampton Musical Union, Capricornia Silver Band all attracted her involvement and support.

Always having a strong Christian faith, Helene regularly worshipped at the Baptist Tabernacle, and supported the services and activities of Australian Church Women.

Never bound to narrow parochial interests, she was a member of Amnesty International, the Association of Independent Retirees, and the Australian Shareholders Association.

Aware that, surprising as it may seem, the world of artistic expression extends beyond music, she was a friend of the Pilbeam Theatre and the Rockhampton Art Gallery.

Ever eager to learn new things, she was a member of the University of the Third Age and a staunch supporter of CQUniversity.

Helene was the only person in the Rockhampton musical community who was surprised when in 1996 she was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for service to community music, particularly through the Rockhampton Chamber Music Society, choirs and arts organisations. Helene took such delight in the way other people exercised their talents, musical and otherwise, that her own achievements disappeared from her mind.

Rockhampton was delighted with the award, and a Gala Concert was arranged to celebrate the occasion. The Pilbeam Theatre was filled, the stage and orchestra pit were filled, and every musical instrument known to humankind, from human voice to bagpipes, raised a paeon of praise.

Helene's long association with and support of the Queensland Orchestra and its predecessors meant that on the last visit of the orchestra to Rockhampton a quartet of players went to the Shalom Village to play for her.

In 1687 the English poet John Dryden wrote a Song for Saint Cecilia's Day. It includes these words:

From harmony, from heavenly harmony

This universal frame began:

From harmony to harmony

Through all the compass of the notes it ran,

The diapason closing full in man

During her long life Helene ran through all the compass of the notes, sometimes in solo mode, but mostly with a goodly company. Those who ran with her will miss the line she held, but the harmony will still be there. Grief that touches the memory of the heart bears the loss most sorely. Grief which brushes the memory of the mind stirs the enduring beauty the dear one has shared.

May none of what she has given to each one of us be lost in her transition.

On behalf of all of Helene's friends and colleagues, I extend our sincere condolences to Neil and Jean, to Avis and Paul and their families, and to the children of her sisters and brother, George Wood, Victoria Jeremijenko, Amanda Jenson and Robert Baird.