Helena Brasch-Glendinning

Helena Brasch-Glendinning lived on the island from the mid-nineties until her death in the early 2000s. Helena was a larger-than-life, soul-of-the-party type who will be long remembered for her performances in shows by Kathy Ogletree at Artworks. In one, resplendent in a pink tutu and wings, as a fairy sitting in a giant daisy she simply stole the show.

She was also a writer of poetry and short stories, a feminist engaged with the politics of her time. She was also known, in her days before she moved to Waiheke as the woman with the vegetable cart on Quay St and other places.

Helena was the wife of Artworks stalwart Rod Glendinning. Their son Tristan Glendinning is a well-known dancer.

Her funeral was held in her beloved Artworks Theatre itself, with mourners lining up to pay their tributes to Helena lying in an open coffin, surrounded by hundreds of arum lilies.