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Note: ned the family business. They retired to Perth at the age of 40 and lived on investment income. Tom built a deco house across the road from the Coade's house Cathay in South Perth with a magnificent view, a billiard table and a tennis court
. They were the first in the area to have television - but Rene did her washing in an old copper and their house was frugally furnished.
The family had owned a beach cottage at Middleton Beach, Albany since the 1930s, and later bought several houses on the hill with magnificent views over King Georges Sound. They spent the hot part of every year at Albany.
The couple believed in education and Rene educated her daughters by correspondence. Later they were sent to the best schools in Perth and were among the few young women to go to university.
Rene had her first period at 18 and menopause at 35 and aged rapidly. She was a high energy person who was always bustling with some activity, but in her later years she had dementia like her mother.
Note: Rene Coade was postmistress in Wickepin and a rosy beauty when she met a dashing, darkly handsome war hero called Tom Hewett, a carpenter. Tom was a fine rider and rode 50 miles on his horse to see her every day. After their marriage he joi
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