Who was Thelma Ross and why was this church named in her honour? We learn the answer to these questions in a newspaper report from The Argus of Monday 13th May 1940.
NEW CHURCH DEDICATED
BACCHUS MARSH- The Thelma Ross
Memorial Church, the new Presbyterian
Church at Parwan South, was officially
opened and dedicated yesterday afternoon.
It is a gift from Mr. Alex Ross and his
children in memory of the late Mrs.
Thelma Ross. The Rev. R. W. McLean, a
former minister of the charge, read a
message on behalf of the Moderator and
dedicated the church, while the vestry
and furnishings were dedicated by the
Rev. G. Ross Williams, also a former
minister of the charge.
So, Thelma had a loving husband and children who were prosperous enough to commission and pay for the building and gift it to the church.
An earlier newspaper story indicates Thelma's husband's prosperity. The Melton Express of Saturday 1st June 1918 reports that:
Mr. Alex Ross, of Linda Vale,
Parwan, is one of the district's up
to-date men-locomotion and other
wise. He had the distinction of
being the first local flying man, when
Aviator Presser took him over the
town. Possibly Mr. Ross could not
wait any longer for a flying ma-
chine of his own, so has invested
in the next best thing for getting
over the earth- the very latest up
to-date Ford motor car.
1918 was a time when a man buying a new car was news. The car would have been the 1917 Model T Ford.
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