Margaret Una Turton's memory board

Margaret Una, or Madge as she was known to her parents and sisters, was the much loved wife of Eric, adored mum of Glenn, Louise and David and mother-in-law to Peter, Jo and Linda, precious grandma to Kylie, Jessica, Hayley, Matthew, Jonathan, Sarah, Jackson and Sophie, and great-grandma to Talen, Seb and Erin-Bree. Margaret was born in Mayfield in 1930 and was the second of three daughters, born to Peter Edward Jackson, a metallurgist at BHP steelworks in Newcastle, and Una Sophia Bransdon, daughter of a teacher and a grazier from Rollands Plains near Port Macquarie. It was in her early years at home that Margaret developed a love of music and learnt to play the piano, which she would later call on in her job as sound librarian for ABC radio. It was a musical household with both parents and her sisters playing piano. Margaret often talked about how much she loved playing duets with her younger sister Judith. She kept in very close contact by telephone over the years, with both sisters, June and Judith, and she was greatly saddened by the loss of her sister June,11 years ago. The love of her life was her husband Eric Turton. When Eric promised to love, honour, comfort and cherish - 'til death us do part' - he carried out that promise with absolute devotion, love and kindness. They had the most wonderful friendship and respect for one another. It was a true love story - Margaret loved to talk about how she met Eric at the City Hall dance in Newcastle. Their romance continued every day from that moment. As many will know, the care and attention Eric provided was nothing short of inspirational, and it was heart-warming to witness in Margaret's final years as she battled lymphoma. Even when she was becoming so very frail, Margaret spoke about how much she appreciated Eric’s kindness and devotion. Eric, Glenn, Louise and David discussed the words they would most associate with Margaret - kindness, compassion, love, tolerance, intelligence, fairness, and a brilliant sense of humour and fun. Margaret detested prejudice and bigotry in any form. She had a strong admiration for leaders and public figures who demonstrated genuineness and integrity. And boy did she sound off if she witnessed greedy or self-serving individuals! Margaret lived by the view that cultural and religious differences were a fantastic opportunity to learn more about other customs and beliefs. She took a great interest in politics and debating and some of us will remember that she loved the last word! Margaret made the most of her time at home when her children were young, studying evening courses in languages and economics, and listening to ABC radio, particularly women’s hour and news programmes. She continued to challenge herself, learning to drive while Eric was at sea for a few years, and developing new work skills; becoming a sound librarian and radio programmer, and studying TV production. At the age of 63 Margaret was awarded a library diploma and received the Alia prize for outstanding academic achievement. She had become a strong, independent working woman and was a fantastic role model. Margaret was an avid reader of political biographies and Australian fiction, and enjoyed comedy, particularly PG Wodehouse and Garrison Keeler. She shared her love of reading, especially with her son Glenn, and carefully chose books as gifts for each member of the family, engendering in her children and grandchildren a passion for reading. Margaret was a skilled dressmaker, with a wonderful sense of style. She designed and created stunning ball and cabaret gowns and her own beautiful bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses worn by her sister Judith and much loved sister in law Elaine. She was also an excellent cook - many people will remember her delicious afternoon teas. Her best pupil David, who went on to become a talented and sought after chef. As very generous and hospitable hosts, Margaret and Eric worked as a team to entertain and feed many guests over the years, hosting new years eve parties, 21st birthday parties and their daughter Louise’s wedding at home in 1986. This wasn't confined to Australia; in Birmingham, UK in 1993 Margaret and Eric catered for their grandson Matthew's baptism party. Although her daughter Louise moved to England to live and work, Margaret encouraged her to do so, saying unselfishly that the most important thing to she and Eric was their children’s happiness. Margaret and Louise kept in close contact by telephone and even when she was so very frail during her last year, supported and encouraged Louise in daily telephone calls throughout her chemotherapy treatment, telling her jokes and keeping her in touch with Australian family news. Margaret was very proud of her son-in-law Peter; she supported and encouraged him through his post-grad medical exams and always listened with interest to details of his work in dementia research. Margaret was also very grateful to her two daughters-in-law Jo and Linda for bringing so much kindness and happiness into the family and she loved their company. Margaret was immensely proud of her eight grandchildren. Her first grandchildren, Kylie, Jessica and Hayley, benefited from spending many hours at Margaret and Eric's Fern Bay home when they were very young, as she patiently taught them crafts and cooking, and took them to shows. Kevin, her granddaughter Jessica's husband, described in a beautiful and touching tribute at Margaret's funeral on behalf of Kylie, Jessica and Hayley, the warm and wonderful relationship they all shared and the memories they cherish. Margaret and Eric traveled to England for the birth of each of Louise’s children, Matthew, Jonathan and Sarah and they spent many special weeks with them all in both England and Australia. Margaret maintained close contact over the phone, keeping up with their favourite hobbies, school subjects and friends, and sending Australian books, DVDs and toys. In fact, Matthew started pre-school at 3 with an Australian accent, having spent so many hours watching and listening to Australian Play School videos, sent by grandma and grandpa, and talking to them on the telephone! Margaret enjoyed hearing updates on Matthew's school and university achievements and was very pleased when he was selected for a Yale University placement. She was also delighted when Jonathan chose to study maths at uni, jokingly attributing his maths ability to him inheriting her maths gene. As she was still very young when Margaret became ill, Sarah visited Australia several times with Louise, and was able to spend many hours with Grandma, accompanying her to hospital visits and giving her therapeutic manicures and foot massages. One of Matthew, Jonathan and Sarah's favourite memories is that on birthdays grandma used to always send an un-birthday present for the other two children. Margaret adored her youngest two grandchildren, Jackson and Sophie, and loved to visit them at their home, where she said they were as generous and welcoming as their lovely parents, Jo and David. Margaret was disappointed when she became too ill and frail to be able to look after Jackson and Sophie, and spend time with them on activities, as she had done when her other grandchildren were younger. She was extremely proud of them both and often talked about Jackson's exceptional language abilities from a very young age and Sophie's brilliant swimming and craft skills. Jackson and Sophie say that they will always have special memories of Grandma - in particular, every time they visited her at Fern Bay she had a present for them, and every time she visited their house she had not only a present but an Esky full of goodies! During her working life Margaret made some wonderful friends. Geoff, Diana and their family shared many happy times together, and several holidays, including a camper van trip around Europe in 1983. They were tremendously supportive and even until a few weeks before she passed away, Margaret and Eric visited them every Friday for lunch together. While Margaret delighted in welcoming new family members and new friends, she loved to catch up with existing family and neighbours whenever she could and took a genuine, loving interest in everyone. Brothers & sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews and cousins were all very special to her. Margaret would be honoured to know that so many attended her funeral to say farewell and celebrate her life. Her family feel blessed to have had such a beautiful person in their lives and they thank god.