Remembering Goulburn's Kerrie Knowlman, a woman of wit, wisdom and humour

"Her sense of humour will always stay with me," niece Hannah Knowlman said on Wednesday.

"You couldn't have a conversation without a laugh or a joke at the back end of it. She was always ready with something to break the tension."

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The Knowlman legacy

Kerrie Knowlman died age 65 on Monday, March 27, in Canberra Hospital. Her death, following heart surgery, has shocked and saddened family and her many friends.

She was a member of the well known Knowlman family whose Auburn Street corner retail store was a Goulburn icon.

It endured for more than a century after John Knowlman arrived from the UK and established it in 1888.

Hannah said Kerrie was enormously proud of her family's history and community contribution and continued this in her own life. She loved Saint Saviour's Cathedral, where she was warden for up to a decade, and had a deep faith.

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Born on May 29, 1957, Kerrie was one of two children adopted by John Francis Knowlman and wife, Edna (nee Offley). Cousin, Louise Allison, said she was eight when she met Kerrie and they remained close all their lives.

"She was very special. Kerrie was a character...who loved her family, her church and her cat, 'Bear,'" she said.

"...She had a great personality and a great sense of fun. I will miss her awfully."

Kerrie attended Presbyterian Ladies College and recorded strong academic results.

Although her father encouraged university study, his death in 1974, affected her deeply. Following school, Kerrie worked in Goulburn City Council's library for many years, a job she loved.

"She had an inquiring mind and was very well read on all genres, from biography to fantasy, gardening and crime," Hannah said.

Her passion for the written word extended into later life, when she was regularly called upon to edit people's works.

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She was also a font of family history and took pride in their association with Knowlman's store and the nearby Fireside Inn. John Edward Knowlman commissioned the Market Street restaurant's construction in the 1930s. Two of his sisters lived upstairs.

Kerrie and the family were "devastated" when fire engulfed the former store in 1999.

After leaving the library, Kerrie worked at Centrelink where she was required to identify people who were wrongly receiving benefits.

"She often told the story of how she found 15 inmates in Long Bay Jail who were receiving benefits and took great delight in cutting them off," Ms Allison said.

"Kerrie had a wicked sense of humour."

She also relished spending time with cousin, Faye Reynolds and members of Faye's family at Lake Bathurst. They always celebrated Christmas with them and Mother's Day with Peter Hoad, Faye's brother. Faye and Kerrie shared their mothers' passion for gardening and were both active members of the Goulburn Graden Club.

Kerrie was also a constant companion to her mother, Edna, whom she cared for and lived with until her death in 2017. Ms Allison said Kerrie adored her mother and could not have been a better daughter.

Together they attended the Cathedral where the family had worshipped for more than a century. Acting Cathedral Dean, Canon Anne Wentzel, said Kerrie was appointed warden by Dean Phillip Saunders, a position of trust and responsibility, ensuring property and finances were in order. She was also a reader, an intercessor and a 'welcomer.'

"Kerrie was very ready to help at any time," Canon Wentzel said.

"She was a very private person and loved the cathedral. This church community was her family. She will be very much missed."

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Kerrie drew on her faith when her brother, Chris, died age 67 in a motorcycle crash in 2021.

But she remained a stalwart for her family and kept her sense of humour, even amid ill-health.

She was comforted by Canon Anne Wentzel's presence in her final days and died with family by her side.

Hannah said Kerrie was an "amazing" aunt.

"She was always a barrel of laughs with a dry sense of humour...and would do anything for anyone," she said.

"I have heard so many stories in the past week on how she would turn up for people at the moment they needed it most."

Kerrie is also survived by Hannah's brothers, Nick and Alex, their respective partners and families, their mother, Jayne Knowlman. She is sadly missed by her extended family and friends.

Her funeral service will be held at St Saviour's Anglican Cathedral on Wednesday, April 12 at 11am. A private cremation will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Cathedral's Sowerby Trust are requested.

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