Mavis was the 6th child of Jock and Annie Willetts, born on 12th July 1927 in Whanganui.
There were 11 children in total: 5 children from Jocks first marriage with Alice (who died of Spanish Flu), and 6 from the second marriage with Annie. They all lived in Aramoha, Whanganui.
Mavis was the apple of her father’s eye, his favourite. She got away with a lot, considering how stern he was with everyone else, being a policeman and all….
As a young teenager, the young lads would never try to talk to her, (even though she was very beautiful) as they were scared off by her gruff policeman father.
When Jock retired in 1943, he moved the whole family up to Auckland. They settled at Narrow Neck, in a Victorian Villa, close to the beach.
Mavis (17) met Huia (36) in 1944, on Narrow Neck beach. Mavis was gifted with a lovely singing voice and the prospect of becoming a talented singer. She also played a little bit of piano. Huia played the violin. That gave them a lot in common despite their age difference. Jock and Annie were a little hesitant in the beginning, but Huia won them over with his good character, and proved himself. He was a good, kind, honorable man.
They married on 26th October 1946. Jock passed away on 19th October 1946 so unfortunately just missed Mavis and Huia’s wedding.
Huia moved into the Willetts’ house, as it was a large family villa. Within a year Mavis and Huia had their first child Lynne in 1947, then in 1950 they moved to their own state house in Takapuna. Then Claire was born in 1950, Peter was born in 1951, and Gillian in 1953. They lived in this modest state house until 1966.
The following photo was taken at Kitekite Falls. Camping at Piha was the favourite holiday destination for the family, growing up.
From all Huia’s seafaring experience and work on the Waterfront, in 1958 he was appointed by the government to a role as the Chairman of the Port Conciliation Committee to settle shipside disputes. But because it was only a part time position, both Huia and Mavis had to work other jobs to make ends meet.
Over the years, Mavis had various part-time jobs, working in shops like Woolworths, Ticket booth at Gaiety Theatre, Takapuna, then started sewing professionally working in a sewing shop in Milford. Mavis had gained experience, by making a lot of the family’s clothes.
Mavis would have dearly loved to pursue a career in singing, however at the time the priority was raising the children. Mavis did have the opportunity to sing with groups like the North Shore Harmonists, and later in life, she joined The Shore Singers group.
In 1968 Huia and Mavis moved to Milford to run a dairy. It was more than full-time work for the both of them, open 7 days per week; yet Huia continued his role of Port Conciliation Chairman. They had the dairy for a few years, then sold up to move to a nice house in the Milford area.
Huia passed away suddenly at 72, on 20th November 1980. Mavis was still quite young (in her 50’s) – yet she did not remarry.
When Mavis turned 80, she moved to her own cottage at Lady Allum Village, then to an apartment. In the last two years of her life she moved to the Bupa Care Home Rosedale.
You can read more of Mavis and Huia’s life together on Huia’s Story. You can also see more photos of both their lives in the photo galleries on this website.
On 22nd July 2024, Mavis passed away at 97, the same age as her mother Annie, who also died aged 97.