The Queenstown Gardens rose garden will be the venue for an informal memorial service this afternoon, honouring the life of a woman who touched many in Queenstown, Wanaka and Central Otago.
Bronwyn Meredith, or Brony as she was known, died on April 3, aged 38, after a long illness and her husband, Harald Ulriksen, said while the formal family services celebrating her life had already taken place in Australia and Timaru, he wanted Queenstown residents to have an opportunity to say goodbye.
He and his wife, who was also a talented singer, had set up the popular Rhythm Factory dance classes in Queenstown, Arrowtown, Wanaka, Cromwell and Alexandra in 2000, but wound the business up in 2006 after Mrs Meredith found out she had cancer.
Mr Ulriksen said the couple then moved to Sydney and set up a Rhythm Factory there.
‘‘From there we kept the business going and doing treatments, she went into remission lots of times and was doing really well.
‘‘We were in Timaru on holiday and went back for another treatment and [she was out of remission] . . . now she's gone,'' Mr Ulriksen said.
‘‘She had a lot of close friends . . .she was the happy one.
‘‘She was always pretty private about her own personal life, but for the kids . . . I'm probably going against her wishes by telling people, but at the end of the day she was so wonderful.''
Mr Ulriksen said one of his wife's final wishes was to help children in a Ugandan orphanage, run by one of her friends.
In memory of Mrs Meredith, Mr Ulriksen had established the Uganda Fund, raising money and items for the children to bring ‘‘her dream of having a little black child to life''.
Today's service is open to everyone, and starts at 3pm.
