IT'S hard to find anywhere in Sunraysia that "community minded" and Order of Australia recipient Liz Maffei hasn't left her mark, says daughter Hilary Maffei.
"If there was a No.1 ticket holder at the library, then the girls here would tell you it was my mother. She always read books, always," she said. "You'd always find books on the kitchen table, on the lounge room table, on the table next to the couch where she sat in the lounge room."
Mrs Maffei was laid to rest last month after she passed away on October 15, aged 91.
In 1981, Mrs Maffei started her career in local governance as the second female Mildura Shire Councillor before later cementing herself in local history as the first ever female Mildura Shire President in 1985.
"I was older and understood a lot more of what it meant for her to be the first," Hilary said. "I handed out how to vote cards and all those sort of things for Mum in the Council elections."
Hilary said that her mother "was a big social person" who "loved talking" and really thought "that she could help people".
"I think all the volunteering helped her stay socially connected," she said. "The stuff that she did was really rather varied and mixed."
Between all the places that Mrs Maffei lent her time, with the Cemetery Trust in Merbein, Sunraysia Community Health and Mallee Family Care being just a few, Hilary said that it was evident that her mother "just absolutely loved Merbein".
"Sunraysia Community Health started as Merbein Community Health and Mum was one of the founding group of people that brought it here. That was great for Merbein," she said. "I think the community health services were really important to her but I also think she just loved it all."
Hilary said her mother was someone who was always willing to step up when needed, as was the case with the Merbein Football Club.
"She was president of the football club because she went to a AGM and no one wanted to be president and there was a risk that the club would fold if no one put their hand up so Mum agreed to do it," she said. "Every single Saturday and Sunday at those Merbein home games she'd be on the gate selling the tickets to people."
Hilary said that as much as her mother "was no doubt busy", she seemed able to "manage it all" with her family.
"My kids have strong memories of being picked up by Mum on a Saturday morning and taken to the old library," she said. "She has great grandkids due and I found in the cupboard stuff for each of the babies. She always remembered birthdays and Christmas."
