By Lynette Hayhurst
On 10 July the family and friends of Margaret Lewis were grieved at the loss of a wife, mother and passionate woman who was very active in many communities including the Mooroolbark Community. Margaret and her husband Doug were heavily involved in the Mooroolbark Community Festival for many years and Doug was the editor of Living Today Mooroolbark and Yarra Ranges for a long time too. They were both members of Mooroolbark Church Fellowship and for many decades actively serving the local community. Also, they were heavily involved in promoting and serving with the Celebrate Mooroolbark annual festival.
Margaret Lewis (nee Collings) was born in 1937. She was the first of three children and lived in East Preston. She loved her childhood and had an exceptional bond with her father and her brother Max. Marg engendered in her children a deep love and respect for their father Doug too. She met and married Doug Lewis and together they built a life together as an amazing couple whose lives would touch so many within the wider community and overseas. The pair would spend 40 years living in the suburb of Boronia.
As a mother Marg had three children Jenny, Debbie and Greg, but when she was unable to have any other children, Doug and her decided to adopt a son Geoff in 1969 which was followed by another son Brad in the ‘80s. She had so much love to give she decided with Doug to foster. They fostered long term Martin, Sharni, Courtney Brittany and Kayla and some 60-70 short term foster children. This wonderful loving service to the community was honoured in 2002 with the BoysTown Family of the Year award, it was a national award with 1350 nominations. This award was to be presented at the MCG by the famous athlete John Landy but no children were allowed, Marg spoke in her own way saying in effect, “no children, then we aren’t coming.” So, they didn’t attend the award ceremony. With the money awarded to them they took all the whole family including foster kids for a weekend away at the Cumberland at Lorne.
At the heart of her life was her faith and love for God and those He put in her care. She expressed that love in so many practical ways including annual Clean Up Australia Days, bus trips for seniors, annual children’s camps in Reefton and Dixons Creek, leadership in the Annual World Day of Prayer even into her 80s. Marg contributed to the People’s Pantry in the local community providing food for those in need. She along with Doug volunteered in the Kids Hope in a local school in Mooroolbark for many years
In the 1990s Marg and her beloved husband Doug agreed willingly to pastor members of their church in the Solomon Islands for nine years, often travelling by dug out boats over choppy waters to serve the sheep placed in their care. There was no opportunity to serve too big or too small in the community or her church for Marg, she was at the heart of it with her passion, love and hard work.
She will be deeply missed by her much loved husband Doug, all the children she bore, adopted and fostered. A shining light has gone out but her legacy lives on in the lives of all those she touched, she was a wonderful example of love, compassion and kindness to all who knew and loved her. Marg lived the verse in the bible that says, ‘I was hungry and you gave food…I was a stranger and you took me in…’ Her funeral was attended by nearly 200 people who came to honour this amazing woman. In her son Greg’s words in his eulogy, he said, “Mum was the salt of the earth… in the pages of history as an absolute bloody legend.”
