Sara Kelly
“Live and love your life”
Sara was an inspiration to us all and faced life fearlessly, with a laugh and always put others before
herself. Sara always saw the bright side of life and had a wicked sense of humour. Here are some
anecdotes, funny stories and personal comments as a tribute to Sara’s time with us.
For your family
Sara’s Australia Post Internal Audit family – May 2014
The Australia Post Internal Audit team - from left – Avinash Gulwadi, Mark Brogan, Darryn Hiddle,
Hiroka McGregor, Blair Richards, Jasmeen Petrides, Roger Sweet with the lovely spikey hair, James
Hillier, Marek Mydlar (Marita Brodie, Nicole Lui and Rebecca Ryan not in picture)
Nicole Lui
Sara, your smile I’ll never forget
From the time that we first met
You interviewed me for the role in the team
Friendly and fun is how you made it seem
When I started, that’s just how it was
Lunchtime chats, Friday quizzes and ice cream just ‘cos
I was so excited to do the Oxfam with you
Together, girl power would’ve got us through!
Now I’m stuck with three blokes
With much longer legs and some pretty bad jokes!
I’ll be thinking of you at all checkpoints
Wishing you were there to help me forget my sore joints
Sara, you’re awesome, such a cool chick
I wish things were different, life ended too quick
-
Sara’s Oxfam inspired walk – James Hillier,
Marek Mydlar, Andrew Payne, Nicole Lui
In memory of Sara
Marian Ngo
I had the pleasure of sharing a work area with Sara for six months.
I was new to the Assurance team and being a quiet person,
it takes me longer to open up and connect with others.
Sara had this unique quality of being unassuming and private yet simultaneously engaging and welcoming.
There’s something truly exceptional in the way she treats people that just breaks down barriers.
When she spoke to someone, she really spoke to them. She really saw them. And she accepted them.
At our work Christmas party I approached Sara and Jas, claiming “I don’t want to be social today”.
“Well, you can always ‘not be social’ with us, lovely” Sara responded.
That is how I’ll remember Sara.
From my outside perspective, I could see that she was the glue in the Internal Audit team.
Her matter-of-fact wit. Her candour. Her quiet dedication to the task at hand.
Her ability to crack a joke at just the right time.
Her team members looked to her for guidance, she was deeply respected.
She spoke often of her family and it was clear that they meant the world to her.
This is how I’ll remember Sara.
Sara, the only person I know who ate a Caramello koala starting from its belly.
Uniquely, confidently, individually Sara.
Unconcerned with being anything other than that, free of pretence.
Giving, loving, hilarious, and strong.
Brighter than bright, in every way.
Secret Santa 2015 – another Sara inspired team event
From left – Jasmeen Petrides, Mark Brogan, Blair Richards, Marek Mydlar, Darryn Hiddle, Roger
Sweet, Marita Brodie
Rebecca Ryan
I don’t have a favourite memory of Sara, I have her every day interactions as favourites.
Without a doubt, her expertise she brought to the Internal Audit team was astounding. She was a
wizard with data – I would provide her with something and she would return it in a matter of moments
as information I could use. One particular day she was extremely busy and told me that she wouldn’t be
able to help until the following day. I burst out laughing, as I certainly wasn’t expecting such a fast
turn-around. Her focus, attention to detail and genuine personality made for the perfect work-mate.
Sara gave a peaceful energy to Internal Audit while I was in the team. Without fail, every time I would
say “Sara” with a question to follow, she would always answer “yes, lovely”. There is no way you can
continue a bad day when you hear something so sweet.
While she was one of the most caring people I’ve come across, she is also one of the most playful and
mischievous workmates I’ve been around. Sitting between her and James gave me a good idea what
parenting is probably like. She would always start the battle by throwing something soft at him, which
he would return and this would continue over and over again. Sara continued her playfulness even when
I left Internal Audit, with the occasional email or hilarious remark when I came down for a visit.
We are all better off for having Sara in our lives. She led by example with her hard work, fun nature
and caring attitude.
Avinash Gulwadi
There is a reason you came into our world I say
To make it a better place for us everyday
You travelled the world and built Lego for fun
With your big warm smile you touched everyone
Your energy and attitude was the best I've seen
Memories of you will always be evergreen
Now that you're gone, I'll miss your “hey lovely”
With great sadness I say rest in peace Sara Kelly.
Hiroka McGregor
I am sad to be missing the lunch in celebration of Sara’s birthday, but I am currently doing the very
thing Sara loved to do best … on an overseas adventure. Sara and I, with a mutual love of travelling,
often shared tips and tales. On my current trip to Vietnam, I will have an email which Sara sent to me
close to hand, which includes, among other things, some tips on where to go and what to see. I thought
I’d share this with you:
1
2
3
4
5
6
What vaccinations do I
need?
Where in Hanoi / Hoi An /
Halong Bay did you stay (if
applicable) and would you
recommend anywhere?
How did you find the trip to
Halong Bay – I’m concerned
my bladder won’t hold out
for the 4 hour transfer
(apparently)?
Travelling from Hoi An to
Hanoi – train or fly? (I’m
leaning towards flying)
Any top tips for places to
eat, things to do in those
places etc.?
Will I win lotto this
weekend?
“hep a, b, typhoid, malaria (this is up to you)”
“we pick hotels in the tourist areas, all of them were really nice
and not expensive at all.”
“no issues at all, don’t drink much before the ride”
“definitely fly”
“Hanoi
- old quarter
- night markets
- mausoleum if there isn’t a massive queue and you want to see
a dead person
- water puppets
- hoa lo prison was ok, i have seen a lot of stuff similar to this
before tho it had some interesting stories
- drinks on the tiny seats on the side of the road
- ho chi minh museum
- hoan kiem lake
Hoi An – awesome to just walk around, from memory not masses
to see but awesome to explore if you love architecture
Halong bay – do a tour and you don’t have to organise anything.
We did a two night tour, one night on the boat and one night at
one of the island. It was a bit much and got a bit boring, you
probably only need one night.
Food wise, eat at the street markets and from the dudes on
the bikes with dumplings, they were yummo”
“unlikely but if you do can I please have some of the winnings?”
Accompanying me on this trip will be
Lego-me (cat lady), a trinket of Sara’s.
I’ll take a few selfies with this one!
Marita Brodie
It was my first week on the job of being Sara’s new manager. I was wearing an emerald green dress
and as I walked down the hallway I ran into Sara coming the other way. She stopped me and said “I
love the colour of your dress”. I replied, “thanks, my girls like this dress cause when I spin around it
fans out….they call it my party dress”. “Show me”, Sara says. So I stop in the corridor, put my papers
and phone on a nearby cabinet and spin around in circles like a ballerina. “It’s true, love your twirly
dress”, she replied. Weeks later, she told me that the moment I started spinning in the corridor, she
knew we were going to get along. From that day on, whenever I wore my green dress I’d have to twirl
for her!!
Whilst I met Sara a couple of years ago, I really only got to know her well since September 2014, not a
very long time at all. What strikes me is how quickly you feel like you have made a connection with
Sara, and have become her friend, not just a work colleague. In
trying to understand why this is the case, and how this can be true
for so many people when we are all so different, and the answer
is clear. The reason is Sara. She exudes warmth and
authenticity, which attracts people to her and makes them want
to be her friend. She is truly one of the most unpretentious
people I have ever met – no games, politics, ego, drama, just
genuine authenticity and a desire to be kind and generous to
everyone, with a wicked dose of humour thrown in.
Through the tragic circumstances of her illness I have also
gotten to know some of the Kelly clan and now have a better
understanding of where her character comes from. Genuine
authenticity is genetic it appears! Chris, Shirley and family –
thank you for raising such a lovely daughter, we are so glad we
were able to work, play, joke, laugh, talk and enjoy life with her.
She will always be remembered by her Internal Audit family
members, some who’ve known her for many years, others like me,
only months.
RIP Sara, much loved, much missed.
Blair Richards
Sara loved to travel. Work was a means for Sara to travel more. Every few weeks I’d get another
request from Sara to go on holiday whether she had available leave or not (not a major issue for Sara).
Returning from a work trip to Sydney in February last year, Sara and I were stuck at the airport. All
week we had been challenging each other to various quizzes to pass the time in the evening such as
naming all American States in alphabetical order. I realised how competitive Sara was and she was
determined to beat me as I had gained the upper hand in most. So to while away the time in the airport
lounge, we challenged each other to count how many countries we had visited.
After much arguing, helped by a few beers and Dr Google, Sara determined the country visitation rules
like you had to go outside the airport and the country had to be recognised by the UN.
Using Google, Sara found a Wikipedia list of all countries and carefully listed each for both of us. Sara
had visited 35 countries and I had visited 43. I thought I had won another challenge until Sara pointed
out that she had in fact visited more countries than her age and I had not. This was the determining
factor. Our Internal Audit team now has a key performance indicator where you have to visit more
countries than your age. Typically for Sara, she loved new experiences and her active travel life was
one of her great joys.
However, from that day Sara was determined to catch me in total number of countries visited and
quickly organised her Canada trip (mainly organised through the internet at work) followed by her
Russian trip planned for this year.
As her Canadian trip approached, Sara used a phone app that counted down the days until her
departure. Each morning at work she would proudly announce only 100 more days to go until her holiday.
It became a running joke for months – at some stage of the day Sara would say “Blair – guess what –
only 20 days until I go on holiday”. This happened each day until she finally left on her great
adventure.
Thinking myself free of this daily reminder, I arrived at work the day after Sara left. A text arrived
early in the morning from Sara “Safely arrived in Canada, having a great time… PS Only 50 days until
Bathurst!”
Sara lived life to the fullest, visiting 36 countries during her life - more than most people do in their
entire lives.
On a personal note…
Sara was the glue that bound our team together. It is a word we have used many times over the last
few weeks. Sara had the ability to bind us together through her wicked sense of humour, her ability to
laugh at the world and herself, and her drive to experience the world. There is a hole in our team that
can never be filled but Sara will live in our hearts and memories forever.
Jim Sherman
Being based in Sydney I only had a few, yet very congenial and successful
dealings with Sara although the vast distance between our offices did not
prevent her warmth and sincerity shining through. It was a pleasure working
with Sara.
God bless ... Jim
Darryl Newton
My memories of Sara will be of a very bright young lady with a wonderful
approach to life. She made the complex seem easy and applied an inquisitive
mind to the things she tackled. Sara worked in a collegiate fashion with no selfinterest other than the right outcome for the job. She was so young, and so
vibrant.