WHEN Katrina Willis discovered her great grandfather was buried at Orange cemetery in an unmarked grave, her quest for a headstone began.
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Ms Willis tracked down the grave’s location from Orange City Library and commissioned stonemasons McMurtie & Co. to immortalise her relative Abe Willis’ memory.
Abe Willis was a champion featherweight and bantamweight boxer, who fought in boxing matches across Australia and overseas to New Zealand, the United States and South Africa.
In his day, boxers fought bare-knuckled in boxing matches that went for several hours at a time.
Ms Willis and her family gained a sense of closure after the headstone was installed on Saturday, after the grave site was unmarked for about 80 years.
Ms Willis said members of her family and many others had contributed to the cost of the headstone, with some travelling from Canberra, Sydney and Parkes to visit the grave site in person.
“I feel a sense of satisfaction that we’ve been able to honour and remember Abe,” she said.
“And in the course of doing that learn more about his story, which is a part of our history.”
Throughout the process of obtaining a headstone, Ms Willis’ curiosity about her family history grew stronger.
“To know a bit more about where you come from and your ancestors, I think that’s good,” she said.
“Even when the history is sometimes troubled.
“I think it’s natural that people want to know more about where they came from.”
Mr Willis was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Sydney in 1924.
Three years later he was transferred to Orange for reasons yet to be revealed to Ms Willis through her research.
“As was the way in those times, people who needed psychiatric care were placed away from the community were often forgotten,” she said.
“As a society [back then], we weren’t comfortable talking about psychiatric illness. That’s changed a bit now but I think we’ve still got a way to go.
“What we’re doing here is recognising that people who needed that kind of help are no lesser people than the rest of us.”
Ms Willis said the installation of the headstone was a sign of respect for her great grandfather.
“It makes it clear that he was a part of a family and he was loved.”