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Iris Coulter (née Mead) 1916–2004
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Iris Coulter. Just before an attempt on Moehau was made. (aged 80).
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The first BotSoc field trip Iris went on was recorded by A P Druce as being to Otaki Forks – Mt Hector, 15–17 March 1957, though our records show that she joined BotSoc in 1953 with the payment of a 7s 6d subscription. On the Easter 1959 trip to Waipatiki River and Patutu she brought her husband Jack, and her daughters Catherine and Joan. After 1959, Iris and Jack came regularly on field trips, sometimes bringing their family, their neighbours’ children, and later their grandchildren.
Iris contributed botanically and socially to make each trip an enjoyable and memorable experience.
She made the most of every opportunity to study, discuss and learn, and attended most of our evening meetings. She kept good records in a form that has been useful to other botanists. In 1991, Iris and Jack became compilers of the BotSoc Newsletter, putting the text on floppy disk for Jeremy Rolfe to format. The Coulter household was the venue for many happy social occasions, such as the 90th birthday party for Isobel Morice and Kingsley Brown.
Throughout her life, Iris had the misfortune to break a few limbs, whereupon with indefatigable spirit, she exercised and did everything possible to regain the use of all parts of her body. Her tolerance of cold, her fondness of turquoise clothing, and her sense of humour are among our lasting memories of Iris. Despite the difficulties of old age, her enthusiasm never dimmed. When almost blind, and limited physically, she would have Cath Mathews read aloud the names of plants from plant lists. She loved to hear the sound of the names, and would conjure up in her mind what each plant looked like, where it grew, and how it differed from other species.
Each Christmas Iris sent cards to her many friends, featuring news and a photograph of a plant or wilderness landscape from Aotearoa and other countries she had visited. Her final triumph was preparing the eighty 2004 Christmas cards for posting after her death. In it Iris wrote: “I am now 88 and nearly blind. But I have a gadget that projects the words I want to read enlarged onto a screen, so I will be able to read your messages myself this year. I still do cryptic crosswords, code crackers, learn poetry, and still enjoy talking books ...”
Iris was a shining light and an inspiration to us all.
Helen Druce, with contributions from Rodney Lewington, Catherine Docherty and Chris Horne.
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