THE FUNERAL

Bettys funeral was felt across the city...

More than three hundred people attended the funeral of Betty Shanks at the Mount Thompson Crematorium on 23 September 1952.

Rev S.Summers, of the Valley Presbyterian Church, conducted the service and told mourners who overflowed the small chapel: 

Betty stood out as an example to all young women. She was a young woman of culture, and for the defence of her honour and virtue was done to death.

David and Elizabeth Shanks went on with their lives supported by many friends and neighbours. Both were destroyed by the loss of their daughter. 

Elizabeth suffered a series of strokes before her death. Mrs Shanks died on 29 July 1962 aged 62 years. David Shanks died on 18 November 1966 aged 74 years.

Memorials to her parents stand beside hers in a garden plot in the grounds of Mt Thompson. Allan, Betty’s younger brother, pursued his sister’s wishes and gained a higher education.