We sadly report that Auntie Flo Grant passed away on Tuesday 6th August, 2019 aged 83.
Auntie Flo always declared that she would like to be remembered for the life she had led and certainly hers has been a life of achievement, leadership and inspiration.
Auntie Flo was closely associated with Rotary being appointed an honorary member of the Wagga Wagga Kooringal Rotary Club and recognised throughout NSW and ACT as Rotary Inspirational Woman of the Year in 2015. Kooringal Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Lane Cove supported by a grant from Rotary International completely refurbished the Yal-Balinga-Da Education Centre which provided training in Wiradjuri language and culture, producing the first Wiradjuri dictionary.
Auntie Flo worked with the Christian Development Ministries, The Wiradjuri Council of Elders and Charles Sturt University on a graduation Certificate to train teachers in Wiradjuri language and dedicated her life to helping Indigenous people reconnect with their culture.
She championed renaming the Mid Western Highway the Wiradjuri Way - a change yet to occur, and was one of the pioneers of Indigenous media, Indigenous radio. She has written widely about Aboriginal culture and was passionate about telling “the real Australian story”, in particular remembering “our Aboriginal soldiers who fought in all the wars alongside fellow Australians”.
Auntie Flo recalls that in 1998 she and brother Cec stood in their third floor room at the Washington, DC Hilton and reminisced that, as two people born on the Mission in Condobolin and growing up in dirt floor humpies on the channel banks of Griffith NSW, here they were having breakfast next day with the President of the United States and representatives of about 170 nations from around the world. In 2014 Florence Grant was awarded the prestigious Premier’s Award for her contribution to the Wiradjuri nation and the Wagga Wagga community.
Auntie Flo’s creativity, innovative contributions and demonstrated leadership among her people and in the general community, established her as a significant and powerful role model. She inspired Aboriginal people, especially girls, and became a strong proponent of Wiradjuri identity through language recovery.