Once again, SI Southport is sad to report a great loss, with the devastating news of the untimely passing of our dear friend and dedicated member, Margaret Davies.
Many of us have wonderful memories of Margaret. She had been a member of SI Southport for many years, working tirelessly on the Executive, leading the club in 2008/9 and rising to the lofty heights of Regional President just a few years ago. With her organisational skills, combined with her caring, patient and compassionate nature (amongst other qualities), she was not only an outstanding Soroptimist but also a truly special person and friend.
Barbara Welby presented this tribute to Margaret at our meeting at the start of November:
“I first met Margaret when we worked at college on a joint cooking project with children from Merefield Special School. She was lively, friendly and caring. She knew of Soroptimists as some of the children lived in a house next door to our meeting room. I invited her to join in 1993 and what an excellent member she turned out to be! She had the knack of making people go out of their comfort zone to fund raise – who could forget those fairies that nobody loved because they were 40, including our 90-year-old member Diana in fishnet tights!
Along with member Jean Tweddell, Margaret raised hundreds of pounds with their ‘Celebrity’ Auctions. Both Margaret and Jean dressed up as celebrity auctioneers, amongst them Hinge & Bracket, the 2 Fat Ladies and Laurel & Hardy.
Margaret became Club President in 2008 and Regional President in 2017. We supported her at her conference in Southport and joined her at the SIGBI Conference in Cardiff (the latter along with 80,000 boxing fans!) Reflecting her caring nature, one of her charities in her Regional Presidency was the Alzheimers Society. Sadly, this became appropriate as she was to be affected by this dreadful disease.
In recent months, one of our long-standing members, Ann Bryan, brought Margaret to meetings and club functions, but we could all see the deterioration in her condition and it became increasing obvious that she needed extra care. We last saw her at our annual Past Presidents’ lunch in September this year and, while she did not know who all the ladies were, she seemed to enjoy herself.
I know Margaret’s cheerful presence is missed by those who knew her. I am proud to have brought her into our movement. She was a brilliant member and a fine example of our name’s meaning – Margaret was truly the ‘best of sisters’.”
We all send our sincerest condolences to Margaret’s husband, Chris, son Philip, daughter Cathy and all the family.
Margaret will be truly missed.
