Colonel Wynne Reddish

Hi, let me introduce myself. My name is Wynne Reddish and I am currently the Territorial Secretary for Women’s Ministries.

Born Wynne Jellyman I am the youngest of four children, the only girl. As a child we lived in a number of places around New Zealand including Wanganui, Westport, Invercargill and Hamilton. A number of my family still live in Hamilton which is where I lived for the longest prior to Becoming a Salvation Army Officer.

I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour when I was 11 years old at a ‘Decision Sunday’ at Sunday School in Hamilton having decided a couple of years earlier that I was not going to make a decision for Christ as then I would have to be good! So I started on the road that with some twists and winding has brought me thus far.

When I left school I spent 2 years at Victoria University studying law (not very successfully) before going to work for in a government department. I already knew I was going to be an officer so was just looking to get a job as quickly as I could and then make moves as opportunities came up.

I entered College on 24 April 1980 as a member of the ‘God’s Soldiers’ session of cadets and was commissioned as a Lieutenant on 16 January 1982. So began over 30 years of service as a Salvation Army Officer. Appointed first to be the Corps Officer at the Hornby Corps, my appointments have included Corps, Youth Department, Training College, Fiji (finance), Territorial Audit, and Finance Department.

It was in this last department that my path crossed again with Graeme Reddish. During our time working together (Graeme as Finance Secretary and myself as Assistant Finance Secretary) we discovered that we might just have a future as more than just friends and work colleagues. A change of appointment for us both came, me to Financial Secretary, just a few weeks before we announced our engagement. We were married on 16 April 2005. Since then we have served in Divisional leadership, at International Headquarters, where I was the Assistant Chief International Auditor, and now at THQ where I am currently the Territorial Secretary for Women’s Ministries.  

Outside of my appointment the things I enjoy doing as I have time available are crafts, baking, reading, walking and the gym. I have recently begun to try my hand at patchwork and am looking forward to having a little more time for this after we retire.

I have 4 step children, all of whom are married and 5 great grandchildren ranging from 9 ½ to 3 ½ years old. We have lots of fun together with the extended families.

By Colonel Wynne Reddish