Born in Wagga on September 22, 1922, Anita lived with husband Don at Galore for many years and later moved to Wagga.

Anita and Don had four children, Patricia, Jacqueline, Clare and Tony (deceased). She has two grandsons, James and Kim Robson, and four great-grandchildren, Lily, Max, Scott and Amber.

Patricia Robson said Anita was a women “ahead of her time”. 

“Definitely a feminist,” she said. “In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s she was training a racehorse and applied to be a trainer and she got knocked back because she was a woman.

“She stirred the pot. There was probably lots of letters to the Wagga paper about this, that and the other.” 

Jacqueline Buswell said Anita always made up her own mind about things.

“She was very quick-witted and she had a great sense of humor,” she said. “She was in the CWA for many years and did many plays even though at first they said ‘we can’t act’.

“Later in life, she was interested in science and said ‘I am going to learn about electricity’ and she applied herself to studying it.” 

Anita was a teacher, a poet and a writer and took her inspiration from everyday life. 

Her son-in-law Robert Lyn said she had an incredible memory and was a stickler for organisation.

“She could recall names, people and connections – it was absolutely staggering,” he said.  

Patricia and Jacqueline said even in her final weeks she talked about wanting to study bees and honey after she finished Spanish. 

Tim Fischer, a family friend, said Anita will be missed for her wry smile, her generosity and capacity to engage and even criticise everyone from bishops to cabinet ministers, “albeit deserved criticisms at most times”.

“My parents at Boree Creek were very close friends with her for many years and, for some years, Nita was a babysitter for me,” he said.

“She brought a determination and dignity, but also a generosity and creativity to her life.” 

Anita wrote many poems as well as her family history. One three-line poem called Autumn is a favourite among her children. 

“Autumn hypnotised the apple tree. It dropped its leaves, it fell asleep.” – Anita Buswell