RIP Colleen Ross: Woman with a heart of gold will be missed

SMALL in stature but a giant with a heart of gold is how friends and colleagues describe the late Colleen Ross, who died on 6 February in Ireland.

A memorial tribute is planned at St Winifreds Methodist Church on Friday, 24 February at 12.30pm where Colleen’s many lifelong friends will congregate to celebrate her life.

Colleen succumbed to the ravages of the same motor neuron disease (MND) which claimed South African rugby legend, Joost van der Westhuizen – on the very same day that he died. She would have turned 67 in April.

While it was sad for friends to see her deterioration over the last few years, they prefer to remember the way she lived, her lust for life and the warmth she brought to those she knew.

While Colleen had been living with and was cared for by her daughter Nicolleen in Ireland for the last 18 months of her life, her lifelong contributions had made a major difference in her home town of Amanzimtoti, where friends still regale about her joyful and selfless approach to life.

The popular hairdresser was a fountain of laughter and mirth to all who knew her.

Lifelong friends Maureen and Sam Jones recall those years in the mid to late 1980s, when Colleen discovered her Christian faith and started making it her mission to help abused women and children. Maureen recalled that Colleen was a founding member of Safecare, a forerunner of what is now known as Turning Point Amanzimtoti. Working with Colleen at their salon in Doonside, Maureen said she would often come to work with her notebooks planning towards what would later become Safecare. “She had a kind of vision to care for women and children who were abused. Perhaps it started from hearing stories of customers, she’d get emotionally involved with those who were either thrown out or abused,” said Maureen.

Colleen would occasionally find a temporary home for these vulnerable people, perhaps the start of her dream to provide a safe house for them. She networked with a Hillcrest woman who was trying to reintegrate ex-prisoners into society, according to Maureen, to successfully establish a funding stream from an Australian source for a safe house for vulnerable women in Amanzimtoti.

“Around the same time, the Natal Lottery were helping out NGOs and they offered Colleen the house on the corner of the Doonside/Seadoone Road off-ramp, which subsequently came to fruition,” added Maureen.

With the assistance and input of many local volunteers, Colleen poured her heart and soul into seeing Safecare become a fully fledged non-profit facility that provided irreplaceable assistance to women and children in need. “That was her heart’s mission,” said Maureen.

Sam, who was privileged to share a friendship with Colleen for over 30 years, said the trauma counselling Colleen did while with the Methodist Church before the days of Safecare had sown the seed to help others. “After we qualified as hairdressers, Colleen came back to Toti from Carletonville,” said Sam. “We set up one of the first unisex salons in Toti at Sweetwaters.”

Her friends were struck by Colleen’s strength of character as a single mother, who battled but persevered to raise and educate her daughter Nicolleen. “Most of all, we just never knew what to expect from Colleen – she was always so full of laughter and always brought a ton of smiles and jokes into any room she entered.”

Johnny van Rensburg, another founder member of Safecare (now Turning Point Toti), penned a tribute for Colleen which spoke of her selfless assistance to women and children in their time of need. He said she initially became involved as a volunteer, provided care and support to victims of trauma and abuse. “It is hard to explain who Colleen was because her actions spoke louder than words,” said Johnny. “She practised what she preached and I will always remember her strength, dedication and positive attitude. She was a wonderful, caring, loving and wise woman and I learnt a valuable lesson from her to never judge someone by their size but by their heart.”

“She will continue living in our hearts and, not only will she be missed by family and friends but by the whole community.”

Colleen’s last few years were fraught with the difficulties brought about by her deterioriating battle with MND. She moved to Mooihawens and was then accompanied by a cousin to Ireland, where she lived with Nicolleen until the time of her death. “Sadly, she was relatively cut off from the love of everyone here but we’ll remember Colleen and her contribution forever,” said Maureen.

Colleen is survived by her daughter Nicolleen, sisters Pearle and Adelaide and cousin Maureen.
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