Jan Murphy’s project is making it easier to find returned service personnel graves in Gore Cemetery.
The Gore woman has been painting Anzac poppies on stones and laying them beside the headstones of those who served their country.
She first started painting ladybirds on stones and hid them in her garden for her grandchildren to find, Mrs Murphy said.
‘‘Then I had the idea to paint an Anzac poppy on stones for the four male family members I lay a paper poppy for each Anzac Day.’’
She liked to wander around cemeteries reading the headstones and one day realised there were no poppies marking the graves of service personnel.
So she decided to paint some.
‘‘I started a personal mission of remembrance.
‘‘I love painting.
‘‘Sitting at home, watching television and painting the stones is quite relaxing.’’
She estimated in the three years she had been painting the stones she had finished about 150.
She painted them in batches because each stone had about eight coats of paint.
She was determined to have a poppy for every grave.
‘‘I’m the sort of person who if I start something, I like to follow it through and I like to finish it.’’
