Biography

Margaret Willson (23 Oct 1935 - 28 Dec 2014) was born in the United Kingdom, the daughter of W. Stanley and Edith Willson and sister of Patricia Mary Paice (nee Willson).

Margaret immigrated to Australia in 1960 arriving in Sydney, then by train to Melbourne then via the ‘Princess of Tasmania’ to Devonport where she was met by someone called Mary who was wearing a red coat for identification. This was according to Margaret’s comprehensive notes that she made of her trip to Australia.

On arriving in Launceston Margaret started working for the Peter McCallum Clinic now the WP Holman Clinic. Margaret was head radiation therapist at the clinic until her retirement in 1990, after which she was appointed to the Tasmanian Radiographers Registration Board in 1991. While working at the clinic, she continued her studies in radiotherapy at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and after qualifying in late 1971 received her diploma in Medical Radiotherapy in January 1972. She had previously worked for 3 years as a radiographer at St Thomas’s Hospital in London. She was a very capable therapist and loved her job and in a reference she received from St Thomas’s Hospital was described as an extremely accurate, competent and keen worker.

John and Janet Stevenson met Margaret when they married at St John’s in 1967 where Margaret was already a member who regularly attended the 8.00am Sunday service. In those early days, she was a member of the 20 & Overs Club which met monthly after a 7.00pm service. She was a rostered reader of the scriptures and also assisted by weekly cleaning of the communion linen and in later years was part of the team that folded the weekly pew sheets. In her early years in the parish she would mentor the new curates and help them to find their feet in parish life. 

Being so far away from her family she was greatly affected by the death of her father and her sister Pat and the grief she felt at those times may have inspired her to minister to others in need, especially the lonely, the sick, the bereaved and the dying. To that end she undertook a course in Bereavement Studies at the Australian College of Funeral Services.

Around the 1970s, the parish assisted the Red Cross in delivering meals on wheels and Margaret was one of those that helped. After the Red Cross stopped weekend deliveries St John’s had to withdraw from the system but Margaret continued for some time, receiving a certificate of Appreciation from the Red Cross (undated).

For a number of years Margaret was a member of the team at Lifelink in Launceston and also assisted at an overnight Drop-in Centre for the homeless. Her generosity was not only freely given with her time but also financially and she was able to help in some substantial ways in helping those in need. 

Margaret set a very high standard and many friends, parishioners and even some of the clergy of the parish felt that they often failed to live up to her expectations! She was not known for her patience, and at times, this affected friends, family and likely colleagues. A strongly independent person, Margaret  was one who would not accept help when offered until the last few weeks of her life. 

What was also obvious was her love of animals. This extended to working alongside one of our local vets, a friend, to sneak anaesthetised animals into the clinic through the back door out of hours for treatment.  Over the years, she made regular and and numerous donations to animal related causes. When the bulk carrier Iron Barron ran aground off Low Head in 1995, she quickly offered to help to rescue and clean penguins and other birds that were caught in the resultant oil spill. All volunteers were to be paid, but Margaret did not want payment. All she wanted was to restore to health damaged wildlife.

She had two dogs and a succession of cats and not only her own. Her first dog Tim was a large dog and one story she told was that while driving to Alice Springs Tim who was then still only a puppy and sitting on her lap at the time either got hungry or bored so took to removing all the buttons off her cardigan much to her amusement. Her second dog  Mr Brown was also a large dog of dubious parentage. Because of their boisterous nature and size neither of those dogs were really suitable for a single lady like Margaret but they were loved and were sorely missed.

Because of Margaret’s love of young children and her Christian beliefs, Margaret was a godmother to children in the King, Cowell, Donaldson and Stevenson families, although John Stevenson was not sure that her love of children extended to their teenage years.

Margaret took a quite a few trips overseas one of which with her friend the late Wendy Cowell. During that trip, they attended the Passion Play in 1980 at Oberammergau in Germany which would have been an experience of a lifetime. 

Margaret also loved the outdoors and would enjoy bushwalks with friends and the Launceston Walking Club. In later years she travelled to the Antarctic and from the number of books, pamphlets and photos she brought back had a wonderful and interesting time. She was also a lover of classical music and opera and would attend TSO and other concerts with another friend, Peter Dowd.

She became a member of the Community of the Sisters of the Church which is an International Anglican Religious Community and continued to receive their regular newsletters. She also regularly attended annual Diocesan retreats which would have been a great inspiration to her.

 One of Margaret’s mottos was from William Penn;

‘I expect to pass through this life but once.
Any good therefore that I can do, or kindness that I can show
to any fellow creature, let me do it now.
Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again’

Margaret, who had an unwavering Christian faith, was gifted in not only her work as a radiologist but also in her pastoral care. She is remembered for her wit and dry sense of humour, her love of the outdoors and all nature but above all her lifelong care, kindness to, and compassion for those in need.

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