A BELOVED great-great-grandmother from Bethania was surrounded by her family when she died battling a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
Kathy Watts, 90, was married to Brian Watts for more than 70 years when she passed away peacefully on June 11 while admitted at Logan Hospital's Palliative Care Unit.
Mrs Watts was well known in the Bethania community and local shopkeepers have displayed heartfelt tributes in her honour.
Husband Brian Watts, 91, fell in love with Kathy during his late teens and the couple have been inseparable ever since.
Their wedding at England on August 14, 1948 was described as a "disaster" as the pastor forgot the ceremony, the photographer "mucked up" the photos and Brian departed for Royal Air Force duties in Singapore the next day.
The couple migrated from Britain to Australia in 1968 after securing employment in NSW.
Mr Watts told the Jimboomba Times he lost half of himself with her passing.
"She was my other half...it will take me a while to get over it," he said.
"We were very compatible, never stoop one another up and got on well together.
"She was a character. Kathy would go visit the shops and people would be delighted to see her come back even if she didn't buy anything."
Jimboomba resident and Kathy's son Fred Watts said he was grateful to the "unsung heroes" at Logan Hospital's Palliative Care Unit for doing everything they could to make his mother's last days comfortable.
"They made this whole experience so much better for mum and were respectful with lots of love, compassion and professionalism," he said.
"Mum often found herself uncomfortable quite a few times but every 15 to 20 minutes someone would come back and it wasn't a problem. They made mum as comfortable as possible."
Nurses told Kathy's husband Brian they would always remember Kathy because she always had a smile on her face.
"She was always happy and the nurses never saw her with a glum look," Mr Watts said.
Nursing director of Medical Services at Logan Hospital, Darren Clark said the palliative care team were dedicated to providing compassionate, holistic and humanised end of life care.
"For the nursing team, led by Gillian Myles, clinical nurse consultant, working every day with our palliative care patients and their families is an honour," Mr Clark said.
"The unit only recently celebrated their first anniversary in their new location in Building three and work together as a respected and highly valued team which is acknowledged by the positive and heartfelt feedback they routinely receive from other health care staff and most importantly our patients and their families."
Kathy's daughter, Marilyn Statham, said her mum loved her big family and had a knack for remembering the names and birthdays of all her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
"I will just miss my mum. She was one of those bright stars on everyone's horizon and a magnet for all social activities," she said.
"Some of the latest photographs we have of mum where she looks really bright and vibrant is when she was holding the latest baby.
"One of the things we will all remember was the big throaty chuckle."
Kathy Watts has 20 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren and five great-great grandchildren.
There will be an open memorial service for Kathy Watts at the Bethania Lutheran Community Worship Centre at Church Road, Bethania on Thursday, June 27 at 11am.
