It is impossible to condense the achievements of Irene Hemsworth into one short editorial.
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Mrs Hemsworth last night received the highest honour Maitland City Council can award – the title of Freeman of the City.
Mayor Peter Blackmore’s three-page nomination was a chronology of giving.
It detailed 60-plus years of dedicated volunteer service to the community.
The variety and depth of the roles she has held are remarkable. She’s been a Sunday school and scripture teacher and co-ordinator, a canteen helper and P&C president, a netball coach and administrator, a swimming and a diving judge.
She’s delivered and assessed for Meals on Wheels, been heavily involved in debutant balls, sold poppies for the RSL and raised money for heart disease and breast cancer.
These are not roles she took on a whim. She took to them with dedication and longevity. Her Meals on Wheels tenure spanned 29 years. She’s a life member at St Ethel’s School and Maitland Netball Association.
And her assistance organising, decorating and teaching dancing for debutant balls spanned 20 years.
Mrs Hemsworth has been honoured before. She was Maitland’s Citizen of the Year in 1989 and an Australian Sports Medal Recipient in 2000.
She’s made an enormous and outstanding contribution to our community and in doing so touched and enriched the lives of many.
But what kind of woman is she? The kind that learnt to swim at the age of 32 when her son took up springboard diving and went on to become an accredited Australasian diving judge. The kind who was a loving wife to her husband, the late Jim Hemsworth. And the kind who has fought and survived breast cancer.
Mrs Hemsworth, you are an inspiration.