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| Rebecca Joachim 1879-1949
At Rest in St.Kilda Cemetery |
| Rebecca Joachim was my Aunty Becky. She was very tiny, about 5 ft.1. (in the old scale) very timid, very quiet and only spoke when she was spoken to. She never married, devoting her life to the care of her sisters.
In the early 1920’s my Father, Bert Chapman, my Mother Cissie (Susan Joachim) and myself moved from Melbourne to Sydney. Bert was originally from Sydney and wished to be nearer his Mother. However they found it difficult to settle. Cissie missed her sisters, Matilda, Sarah and Becky, so they returned to Melbourne in 1927/28, moving to a house in Ellesmere Road, Windsor. My Mother became ill and was and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Aunty Becky came to live with us. We moved to a house in Dandenong Road in 1931/1932 (5 doors up from the cemetery), Becky moved with us and gradually took over the running of the household. I joined the Army in 1941 (during World War II), Mother became so ill she was hospitalised. Dad decided to give up the home in late 1944, so Becky then went to live with her sister Matilda Bloom (who always played a dominant role in her life) at no.4 Crimea Street St.Kilda where she lived for the rest of her life. Looking back now I realise what a significant role, in her own quiet way, Aunty Becky played in my young life. I think I must have been quite a handful because the only time I remember her raising her voice was to call out to Mum: “Cissie - Keith’s at the biscuits”. Keith Chapman Should any of Rebecca’s family wish to visit her grave, it is in the St.Kilda Cemetery in Melbourne, it is located at: 4 42 V17. The inscription on her grave reads: Rebecca Joachim Our sister Rivka bat Avraham [Thanks to Liz James who supplied the additional details and artwork] Jenny Cowen |
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