In memory of Daisy Shepens

A woman, Daisy Kathleen Schepens, dressed formally , wearing glasses.

Wellington girl Daisy, the daughter of solicitor George Alfred Hurley and Elizabeth Chadwick, met her future husband while on holiday at Waitotara. Belgian born Emile Schepens farmed 800 acres in Waimatenui, 16 miles south-west of Kaikohe. 

The couple married in 1913 and farmed their land, raising their family of four (3 sons and 1 daughter) in the isolated far north. For a time, they had to employ a governess for their childrens' education as they were too far away from a school. 

Daisy was a very community minded person, becoming a life member of the Women's Division of Federated Farmers and was their Housekeeping Secretary for North Auckland Provincial. After Emile's death in 1950, Daisy moved to Kaikohe. She passed away in 1967 and is buried at Kaikohe Cemetery.

Photograph and information from the book Under Northland Skies: Forty Women of Northland by Florence Keene. Text by Jenny Gow - Whangarei Libraries Recollect Collection.