Lyn Slavin

Both Lyn and myself were born twins in Melbourne 26.06.1947. We lived in Port Melbourne with our mother Audrey who as a single mother endeavoured to care for us both and maintained a job at the same time. Our father Hugh had fled when we were born, obviously could not cope with responsibility.  

Our mother contracted a serious disease in 1951 and had to be isolated for some years therefore Lyn and myself were shipped off to our Grandparents in Country Victoria ( Lake Boga). Lyn and myself attended the Lake Boga Primary School, Lyn then attended the Swan Hill High School and I attended The Swan Hill Technical college. We completed our schooling in 1962. We were both average students.

 We returned to Melbourne in 1963 and lived with our Aunt and Uncle for some years. Lyn decided to move out in approx. 1965 and then boarded with a wonderful family. She gained a job as Private Assistant to the General Manager of the Melbourne Zoological Gardens . Lyn and our cousin Kay travelled overseas to Europe in 1969 and then Lyn returned for my first wedding in late 1969. Lyn then met a man named Max and had a relationship for some time, I believe they got engaged but split in !971/1972. Lyn returned to the USA in 1972/1973 and with her Zoological friends in the USA she soon set up her new life. She had a new name Lyn Marchana and that came with a Social Security card ( lets call it a grey area). She gained a position with a large reinsurance company and soon rose to a major position as Orange County Assessor. She had a various relationships with various guys ( some pretty shady and others very boyish looking) then she must have met Gene in the Insurance industry world. I wasn’t aware that they eloped and got married I think in Reno in the mid 70’s. Lyn with her new identity had to exit the USA annually to be able to return and acquire a working visa. Approx 1975 Lyn returned to Australia to seek a Visa however as she had no history in Australia for many years was not able to acquire a Visa. In desperation she flew to Fiji where I was working at the time and due to my local connections she received a Visa. Failing that she would not have been able to return to the USA. Apparently all of the Visa issues disappeared when she formally married Gene.

Lyn and Gene commenced married life in Santa Monica, then moved to Canoga Park, Forest Falls and finally Yucaipa. After their business in Rancho Cucamonga was sold they also moved to Las Vegas for approx. 12 months and then returned to Yucaipa in approx 1984/1985. They then moved to Crossville, Tennessee where they purchased a beautiful house on a lake. Also in approx.1986 Lyn and Gene purchased a beautiful property in Frankston, Victoria, Australia which was located approx 2 km’s from Robyn's and my residence in Frankston. Gene loved the Australian lifestyle and would have resided here if Lyn had approved. Unfortunately that was not to be and the property was sold inthe late 80’s and they returned to the USA, the country of Lyn’s choice. I have to say that I was extremely disappointed with their decision as I had not spent any long period of time with my twin sister since 1972/1973.

Throughout the 80’s Gene and Lyn visited Australia on a number of occasions to meet our families in Swan Hill, Stanley, Beechworth and Rutherglen. Gene was formally introduced to the extended families and all had a wonderful time.

Lyn, Gene, Robyn and myself travelled to New Zealand in late 1987. We landed in Queenstown ( bottom of the South Island ) then travelled to the Lake country, Glacier country , Christchurch, Picton and then spent Christmas day In Wellington ( bottom of the north island). We then visited and stayed at the thermal area at Rotorua, then on to the Bay of Islands ( the tropical north of the north island ). We then returned to Auckland, spent New Years eve there and then returned to Melbourne. It was a wonderful trip as New Zealand is a beautiful place and everyone enjoyed the two weeks. I had also visited the USA on a number of occasions from 1978, we visited Las Vegas a couple of times, drove to San Francisco and down the west coast to LA, I also stayed with them at their various houses with the exception of Forest Falls. All of our times together stay in my mind always.

Unfortunately the above is my very limited knowledge of Lyn, she was very private and never discussed her life in the USA. I loved her dearly and was somewhat surprised when she and Gene divorced but again little information was provided regarding the parting. Over the past year Lyn seemed to distance herself from the general family in Australia and nobody was really aware of what was happening. She only ever told us that she had wonderful friends at the GYM and Coffee shop, that gave us hope that she was enjoying her life. I would like to discuss other issues with you regarding Lyn to fully understand her circumstances but this is not the time.