Self-taught pianist and Levin Home for War Veterans resident, Rona, literally learnt to play at her father’s knee.
“He would lift me up to the keys and whistle a tune and I’d play it back to him,” she says proudly. “It seemed so easy, I thought everyone could do it.”
When she was just 16 Rona began playing for the troops stationed at Feilding. As well as performing, Rona’s working life spanned teaching in Porirua and Horowhenua. She was also a Justice of the Peace.
While jazz tunes were her forte Rona has kept up her love of music and continues to play, even though she is partially blind. She says she loves to accompany Levin Home residents when they sing, on the home’s John Brinsmead & Son’s London-made piano.
Residents at Enliven homes are encouraged to continue or take up hobbies that provide them with meaning and purpose, says Levin Home and Reevedon Home and Retirement Village manager Michelle Day.
“Playing the piano is also good for the brain,” Rona adds.
She must be onto something as everybody knows she’s as sharp as the key of D.
