BULAWAYO Matron Mary BrewsterBorn in1926 in Yorkshire, Matron Brewster came to then Rhodesia in 1949 as an SRN. Her first posting was in Chivu (then Enkeldoorn). She arrived on the train from Cape Town and then went by donkey cart to Chivhu accompanied by the Rev Shearly Cripps. She was the Matron in Charge at Bulawayo Central Hospital from 1977 to 1983 when she retired.
She came back into service in 1988 at Edith Duly Nursing Home where she was the Nursing Matron in charge. A spinster and an extremely private person, she worked tirelessly for her fellow man for 61 years. She was at the Home by sunrise and left at sunset, her every Christmas, Easter, Sunday and Saturday was the Home as well as the working days in between. Matron was 84 when she retired, a formidable force. When she swept through the wards, eyes taking in every tiny detail, the nurses trembled and one could see the patients visibly relax.