Echuca library's touching tribute brings husband home
A TOUCHING tribute from Campaspe Regional Library has brought a former resident of 23 years back to Echuca.
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The library’s new reading chair, fitted with a plaque which honours the memory of Friends of the Library committee member Trudi Bovery, brings people in every day looking to catch a glimpse of its bright rainbow colours.
For Hans Bovery, it’s a connection to the love of his life, taken before her time by the maliciousness of breast cancer.
After learning of the chair and its link to his wife, the 88-year-old decided to make the five-hour-long trip from Traralgon to see it for himself.
He said the gesture brought a tear to his eye, and the chair’s lovely rainbow hue couldn’t be more fitting for his partner of 60 years.
“She was ambitious, cheeky and always on the go,” he said.
“It brought up all these different memories from our 60 years together.”
The couple lived in Echuca for more than two decades, when Trudi passed away in 2017, Hans moved to Traralgon to be closer to family.
He never had a reason to come back since, but after taking in the town for the first time in years, said it still felt like home.
“There are a few little differences… it’s not quite the same community,” he said.
Hans and Trudi were members of the Friends of the Library for 20 years, a committee whose numbers have been slowly diminishing.
He said it would be a great shame to see it weaken further.
“I encourage people of Echuca to join the Friends of the Library. They’ve done an awful lot for the community over the years,” he said.
“Organisations like these hold the community together.”