Vera Vahala
Vale: Vera VAHALA
One of our finest players, Vera Vahala, died on April 19th aged 90.
Vera was born in 1917, one year before Czechoslovakia became a democratic republic. Her family owned an estate, part of which Vera remembered with nostalgia as a cherry or-chard. She however followed an academic path and studied medicine at Prague University, where she met and married a fellow student, Wenceslas Vahala.
When the Nazis overran the country, Vera was forced to go into hiding. At the end of the war following the "sudden death" of Mazaryk, the liberal democratic leader of Czechoslovakia, the Russian-backed Stalinists declared the country to be "a Peoples' Republic". Many persons were sent to trial, shot or hanged for"conspiracy against the democratic order"
The Vahalas decided to find refuge in another country. Vera was a very private person, who rarely discussed her family, however, she told the story of her drive to the border, through the communist checkpoints, with her husband huddled under the rugs and suitcases on the floor, and her sons sitting there with their feet on his back.
When the family arrived in England, Dr Vahala studied to qualify for admission to the BMA Vera did not resume her studies; she worked at menial part-time jobs in order to support the family. After they moved to Australia, she supported the family Medical Practice, educated three of her sons to become medical practitioners and delighted in the arrival of her grand-children. In her private life, she was a typical European intellectual, scornful of the second-rate, accepting only the best of classical music and an eclectic selection of literature.
She joined the West Australian Bridge Association in 1962. In the following year she won the Mixed Pairs with Gordon Wilsmore. From then on she moved to the newly-established Women's competitions. From 1965, Vera represented the state at the A.N.C. eleven times and was twice a member of the Australian Women's Team, playing in the Far East Tournament in 1971, and in the Miami Olympiad in 1972. She was also a stalwart of our home club, winning the Women's Pairs three times, the Open Pairs three times and was a member of the winning team eleven times. In BAWA events, she won at least nine more trophies, and when not a winner was always close.
Apart from her Bridge, she was devoted to her church and her family. Most of us remember her knitting away at a garment for one of her many grandchildren, when she dummy. We also remember her tales of woe if she had made some small error of judgment. She always complained that she or her team had done poorly. Of course, she had usually won.
Ailsa Smith
Published in May 2008 Edition of Trumps Plus)
