Proud grandmother Patti Newton is celebrating a very special milestone.
The 81-year-old took to Instagram to reveal that her grandson, Sam Welsh, has finished high school.
She shared a heartwarming photograph of her hugging the 17-year-old alongside some heartwarming words.
“Congratulations Sam on finishing year 12, Bert adored you and so do I,” she gushed, in reference to her late husband, who died in 2021.
“You have achieved so much and deserve your success. You are so special.”
Sam is the eldest son of Patti and Bert’s daughter, Lauren, and her husband, former Olympic swimmer Matt Welsh.
Patti and Sam have always shared a close relationship, given he was her first grandchild.
Read all about her family below.
How many children did Bert and Patti Newton have?
Patti welcomed two children with her late husband, Bert, during their marriage: daughter Lauren, 47, and son Matthew, 49.
Rumours were swirling that Patti had fallen out with her eldest child, but she set the record straight in a chat with New Idea.
“There’s no feud going on,” Patti told us last year.
“He’s been in America for quite a long time, where he’s writing and working on scripts, but we talk frequently and he always shares in family celebrations, with video messages and calls.”
She insisted that Matthew is in no way estranged from his Melbourne-based family.
“He’s happy in the US and he’s having a good time there,” Patti explains. “I think he’s better off where he is, to be honest. All his dad Bert [Newton] and I ever wanted was for him to be happy – and he is,” she added.
Patti and Bert first met when they were child stars on the radio and reconnected in adulthood.
Bert attended Patti’s 21st birthday party and they got engaged on Australia Day in 1974.
They tied the knot later that same year, on November 9, and the rest is history!
The couple were married for 46 years before Bert passed away on October 30, 2021.
How many grandchildren has Patti Newton got?
Patti has six grandchildren. Her son, Matthew, doesn’t have any children, but Lauren has six children.
Lauren and her husband, Matt, are proud parents to children Sam, 17, Eva, 16, Lola, 13, Monty, nine, Perla, six, and Alby, five.
Patti recently told how Mother’s Day changed for her forever when she became a grandmother.
“It’s always Grandmother’s Day as soon as you have grandchildren,” Patti told Nine in 2023.
“I look up to Lauren because she’s such a good mum with six children, and my grandchildren treat me beautifully. I have no complaints. I feel as though Mother’s Day is every day for me.”
