Anna Finlayson-Smith

1953 - 2019

Anna was born and educated in Auckland, with her parents having a strong Scottish heritage. Family holidays were spent on a farm at Manurewa and at a cottage at Weymouth on the Manukau harbour. Anna trained to become a teacher and went on to spend many years teaching, mainly at schools in the South Auckland area. During this time, she developed a strong passion for music and loved conducting massed choirs from numerous schools at the annual festival held at the Auckland Town Hall.

She later moved to live in Te Puna and immersed herself in community work. Anna was the Chair of Friends of Baycourt and particularly enjoyed supporting the next generation of performers with their annual Performing Arts youth scholarship.

Half of Anna’s fund supports performing / creative arts and animal welfare or the training of dogs for personal assistance, while the remaining 50% is unrestricted.