Nurse and missionary Melva Schneider is remembered for her dedication to her community.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Born on February 1, 1930, Melva Doreen Schneider was the eldest of Alfred and Selma Schneider's five children.
She was the much-love big sister to Amy, Norma, Ronald, and Kathleen (deceased).
Melva was welcomed as a child of God at her baptism on February 23, 1930, at St. John's Lutheran Church, Murtoa.
She was baptized by Pastor CJ Siegle and later confirmed into the faith at Immanuel College by Pastor JE Auricht.
Melva grew up on the farm at Rupanyup and went to school at Lallat Plains, initially walking 1 miles and then going by horse and cart.
Her early childhood was not without incident, contracting diphtheria, being kicked in the leg by a horse, the resulting sore becoming severely infected, and then impaling her leg on the spout of an oil can after falling while playing in the barn.
She completed her schooling at Emmanuel College in Adelaide.
While there, she became very concerned on hearing her brother Ron suffered a burst eardrum.
After college, she spent some years on the farm before beginning her Nurses training at the Wimmera Base Hospital in 1947, graduating in 1950.
She then continued with midwifery training at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne, and later with Infant Welfare studies to become a triple certificate nurse.
While at the Wimmera base hospital, she purchased a bike and occasionally rode the 55 km home to the farm at Rupanyup.
Her career took her to Western Australia, Hobart, King Island, Albury and the Hermannsburg Mission in the Northern Territory.
In 1955 she went to Papua New Guinea, spending almost 15 years working for the Lutheran Mission.
Melva was saddened at the sudden death of her sister Kathleen in a farm accident in September 1966 at the age of 20 years.
Although Melva understood that God could take someone at any time, she thought Kathleen was far too young.
Melva knew how God was active in her life and the lives of others. This was reinforced during her nursing in Papua New Guinea.
On returning to Australia, she worked in Darwin, where she obtained her driver's licence and bought her first car, an EH Holden.
The last ten years of her working life was as director of nursing at Swan Hill Hospital.
On weekends, she would often travel back to Murtoa and stay with her Mum, or visit Ron's farm block at Murtoa, digging up the rubbish tip, which yielded bottles and other interesting items.
Church played a vital part in Melva's retirement.
She was involved with the Lutheran Church recycling program. She was also a supporter of the Chaplaincy Book Fair.
She was a member of the Ladies Guild and the Bible Society, a church usher and Bible reader until her 90th birthday.
Melva loved to bake and, on many occasions, entered at the Horsham Show, often winning for her cooking and the scones she made.
She would make scones for the trading table at Ladies Guild casserole lunches and the Bible Societies 'Pleasant Sunday Afternoon'.
Melva had a heart of gold and would often volunteer to deliver church material to those unable to attend.
For her, spreading the Word of God was important, even if it was only in small and simple ways.
Melva suffered bleeding on the brain on August 30. God called her to be with him on October 20, 2021.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.mailtimes.com.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/Wim_Mail_Times
- Follow us on Instagram www.instagram.com/wimmeramailtimes/
Did you know you can receive updates straight to your inbox? To make sure you're up-to-date with news from across the region, sign up here.