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© The Wooster Family Group
Doris Ivy Gort (nee Wooster) - Nurse Daffodil By Molly WilhelmMy grandfather, Arthur Wooster (1881-1959), who is also Janet Gordon's and Lynne Yule's grandfather, had six children. Four of these ventured forth from England to other lands during the 1930's.Mary Ann Stack died during World War 1 and the children were cared for by kind relatives. After the war Arthur returned to his children and established a home with Alice Julia Hobbs. They had two daughters, Eileen and Lily.
Arthur Wooster - Mary Ann Stack 1883-1917 Arthur Wooster - Alice Julia Hobbs 1889-dec Kathleen Emily Wooster 1906-1986 Doris Ivy Wooster 1909-1983 (South Africa) Arthur Edward Wooster 1911-1975 (Canada) Mary Rosaline Wooster 1913-1979 Eileen Winifred Wooster 1921-2007 (Canada) Lily Lorna Wooster 1922-1985 (Australia) Arthur Wooster's clan ca. 1936: From the left: Kathleen, Lily, Molly (Janet's mother), Doris (Molly's mother) and Eileen (Lynn's mother) with Arthur and Julia at the front. This article is about my mother, Doris Ivy Wooster. During her 20th year she was hospitalized with Scarlet fever. She prayed that she might live and promised to dedicate her life to doing good. Then she trained to become a nurse. One day she walked into a Male Ward carrying a large bunch of daffodils. She was immediately nicknamed "Nurse Daffodil". After that she dropped the name Doris and was always called "Daff". In 1936 she applied for nursing jobs in four countries and, having decided on South Africa, she sailed to Cape Town, along with several other nursing friends. Around that time my father, Heine Gort, left his native Holland and sailed to Cape Town. They met a few months later and soon my mother took on the task of teaching Heine to speak English. Both left Cape Town separately and moved up north, but they continued writing letters, and in 1938 they were married in the Transvaal. Heine was working on a mining project far out in the wilds and before they married Daff had to learn to ride a horse. Their first home was a very large tent, where they lived for six months. She said that it was one of the happiest times of her life.Shortly after the outbreak of World War 2 Heine joined the South African Roads and Airdrome division while Daff, now with two children, became a tutor at a nursing college. Heine spent the war years moving up through Africa, helping plan roads, bridges and airstrips for the army following after them. Before leaving Holland he had begun a course on building and engineering with an International correspondence school. He continually worked at that, and when he arrived home, at the end of the war, his certificate was waiting for him. He was able to get a loan to build our first home and start his own building business. When Apartheid was officially written into law my parents decided to move, and we travelled to Kenya, East Africa, where Heine supervised hundreds of roads and bridge projects in the area. In 1960 my mother sailed with me to London to attend the Royal College of Music. She settled me in before returning to Kenya. In 1964 we all returned to Cape Town. In 1968 I went to College in Munich Germany. There I met American soldier Harv Wilhelm and we married there and then later settled in America. My brother John and his family decided to try to emigrate to America. My parents, always the adventurers, did not wish to be apart from all their family, they were now in their late sixties and in 1977 they bravely ventured forth on the last move. My mother's greatest delight was her seven beloved grandchildren. To be close to them made all the hardship of their final move worthwhile. Her example is bright for all of us.Daff and Heine in their first home.
Page last updated
01 December 2023