She was the youngest of six, with four sisters and a brother.
She lived in their family home in Yarck, Victoria, and attended the local Yarck school with all her siblings.
Merna’s great-grandfather came to Australia as a convict and arrived in Sydney in 1806.
The Goodear family sold horses to a family named Kelly in the 1870s.
Later, the family realised it was the Kelly Gang, and some members of the Goodear family moved to Queensland and changed their surname to Banks, not wanting to get into trouble with the law.
In May 1879, Merna’s grandmother had a remarkable encounter with Ned Kelly and Steve Hart on the Yarck Gober track when, at gunpoint, the bushrangers asked for jewellery.
Merna’s grandmother complied before talking Kelly into giving back the jewellery.
Merna’s father, Charlie, had a dairy farm behind the family home.
After school, it was Merna’s job to deliver milk to the local milk bar and the Yarck Hotel.
While Merna’s love for school wasn’t quite there, her mother and father provided an amazing childhood environment.
She adored her mother, who was born in London, and her father, who was a returned serviceman from World War I.
The weekends were spent playing in the orchards and listening to music on their wireless in the living room.
Merna taught herself to sing at the age of three.
When World War II broke out in 1939, Merna, then six, was annoyed that her wireless shows were being interrupted and replaced by BBC World Service, and the ramblings of Adolph Hitler and Winston Churchill were most inconvenient to her.
At 15, Merna left school and started work at the Yarck Post Office, where she sorted mail, and also became a telephonist.
In 1955, Merna left Yarck and moved to Seymour, where she continued to be a telephonist with PMG.
In April 1970, Merna married Bill Francis and in 1971 they had a son, Adrian.
Merna dedicated her life to family.
The other great love in her life was music and singing.
Day after day, year after year, Merna would be in her lounge room singing and recording music.
Over the years, she was involved in many choirs around Seymour.
She taught herself to play the guitar and in later years was involved in the local ukulele group.
One of the happiest days of her life was meeting and shaking hands with Princess Diana in 1983.
Merna loved tennis and played competitively for St Mary’s and Seymour Town tennis clubs. In later years, she started playing golf.
She was an active member of the Seymour Fire Brigade Woman’s Auxiliary in the 1970s and ’80s.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Merna and Bill cruised the world many times on the ocean liner QE2.
Merna had a keen interest in family history and travelled to England in 2008 and 2010 to meet long distant relatives.
In later years, Merna was excited to see her son get married and adored her two granddaughters, Charlotte and Sophie.
Merna was selfless, always putting everyone before herself.
Her care and concern for others will be greatly missed.
Her family adored her and she will be sadly missed.
Merna passed away peacefully with loved ones by her side on Sunday, September 29, 2024.
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