Mrs Vivienne Seaton and Penelope Hare visited two of our new neighbours last week – Mrs Natalie Ellis-Wilson and her husband, Mr H Robert Wilson, who have recently moved to Yvette Williams Retirement Village.

Mrs Ellis-Wilson is a former Columba teacher who taught English, Speech, and Drama at Columba for thirty years. Outside of teaching she has had a distinguished theatre career, having starred in several New Zealand films (Out of the Blue, An Angel at My Table) and directed a number of plays at the Dunedin Repertory Society including The Importance of Being Earnest. She is also the Patron of the Dunedin Repertory Society but modestly didn’t mention that! In addition, Mrs Ellis-Wilson has sung in a chorus with famous opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, and even spent six months on Shortland Street in 2010!

Her daughter, Amanda Ellis, is one of our Distinguished Alumni and works as a Professor of Management at Arizona State University today.

Mrs Seaton and I enjoyed hearing Mrs Ellis-Wilson’s exciting story and we were inspired by her service to both Columba, where she directed many productions over the years, and the theatre industry on a local and national stage. It is lovely to have this warm and wonderful spirit back in our Columba community.