Deirdre Roelants was a Ponsonby local and writer for Ponsonby News and undertook numerous research on Ponsonby’s history.
Our darling friend and colleague Deirdre Roelants passed away at 10.10pm on Sunday 4 February, after suffering a number of health issues. She had moved into Clair House in Mt Eden in December. I saw her on 30 December and she looked amazing. 10 days later I went again and was shocked - she was laying on her bed looking miserable. "I hate it here," she smiled at me. She was just tired, ill with a leaky heart and breast cancer. When she came down with pneumonia Deirdre was put into work 63 at Auckland Hospital. I saw her three days before she passed away. I'd been busy delivering Ponsonby News, all day and in the rain.
She had lived in Franklin Road for years. Deirdre achieved a lot in her eight decades - she ran a deli, published an annual guide to bargain shopping along with helping us by writing local stories for Ponsonby News. Our team adored Deirdre who, when we were talking about age - always deducted 10 years from her own age!
She always wanted to write stuff about the younger generation and enjoyed their energy and she loved interviewing them. Twice we came to her rescue when she had computer issues. We will never forget you dear deirdre. Rest in peace now. Read some of Deirdre's columns in the PDF attached. When the Ponsonby News turned 25 years of age, we included our team on this cover taken inside Ponsonby Central. I asked Deirdre to be in the front row and what a star she made in her clever red & white Harry Potter inspired scarf.
https://issuu.com/ponsonbynews/docs/deirdre_roelants_tohill
