Beryl Watson, 98 - Former wife of Burt Munro (World's Fastest Indian)
aka Bob
The former wife of New Zealand motorbike speed legend Burt Munro, who
was immortalised in the move The World's Fastest Indian, has died aged
98.
Beryl Watson, who was a resident at the Jervois Rest Home in Herne
Bay, was born in Melbourne in 1908 before moving to Invercargill with
her family.
She met Munro at a dance and the pair were married when she was 17.
The couple had four children before divorcing in 1950. She remarried
in 1967.
Munro broke the world land speed record on a 1920 Indian Scout
motorcycle. His life was celebrated in the 2005 movie starring Sir
Anthony Hopkins.
The couple's eldest daughter June Aitken, 81, said her parents loved
each other very much and stayed in touch after they divorced. She
described her mother, who lived on Waiheke ISland for a large part of
her life, as strong and active. "She used to be quite a speedster in
her Mini around Waiheke a few years ago. Some of the grandchildren
wouldn't go in the Mini because she went too fast. She ended up
crashing off the road."
But Mrs Watson did not see The World's Fastest Indian, "She didn't say
way," Mrs Aitken said. "Perhaps it would have hurt her if she saw it."
--
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
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