Betty Gilgen and her father, Harry Pennell. Phil said Betty had “Pop’s engineer’s eye for detail” and “monitored the Bayfair bridge pile progress”. Betty Gilgen as a baby. Betty also had “extremely good sewing and millinery skills,” spinning possum, alpaca, and mohair wool into garments, rugs, and blankets. Betty remarried in 1958 to Swiss immigrant and horticulturist Ernst Gilgen, who died in 2005.

Source: New Zealand Herald February 05, 2026 18:51 UTC