Tenterfield health team remembers Marg Andrews

1 October 2008

Hunter New England Health staff members reluctantly farewelled Margaret ‘Marg’ Andrews last week, after the highly respected and well-liked Tenterfield nurse lost her battle with cancer.
Marg, 59, will be remembered as a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, nurse and friend.
Marg’s Tenterfield Community Hospital colleague, Enrolled Nurse Lorraine Petrie, said Marg developed a reputation as being the nurse with a gentle, settling touch and a wonderful smile very early in her training.
“Marg’s reputation for being easy-going, kind and non-judgmental continued throughout her nursing career – she was often described as an ‘absolute saint’ and was loved by all who trained alongside her,” Mrs Petrie said.
Marg worked as a dental nurse for several years in Wagga Wagga, before she moved to Young in 1968 to train as a nurse at the Mercy Hospital.
Upon finishing her general nurses training, Marg returned to Wagga Wagga where she worked as a district nurse for a few years. She then worked at the Wendy Hucker Centre for the Aged for almost three years, before moving to Brisbane to do her midwifery at the Mater Hospital.
With two nursing certificates under her wing, Marg returned to caring for the sick and elderly at Brisbane’s Mt Olivett Hospice for the diseased and dying.
It was in Brisbane that she met her husband Peter though a mutual friend.
The pair moved to Tenterfield where they would spend their rest of their married life together. Marg and Peter went on to have four children – Fiona, Simon, Tim and Katie. Marg’s three grandchildren – Jaiden, Isabella and Angelina – were her pride and joy.
In the early 1990s Marg decided to rekindle her nursing career. She returned to work at Tenterfield Health Service and relished her role working in the aged care section of the hospital. She also provided a wonderful service to many pregnant women in Tenterfield, providing them with compassionate care during their labour, as well as sound, experienced advice during their first weeks as a parent.
“A good friend and colleague is one of the rare jewels of life – difficult to find and impossible to replace. Margaret Mary Andrews, affectionately known to many of us as Mary, was one of those rare jewels,” Enrolled Nurse Lorraine Petrie said.
“Margaret will remain in our hearts and thoughts, making her passing a little easier to tolerate. At times a smile will pass over our faces as we remember some of the special times, spent in the company of such a special and kind person.”

(HNE-1556)

Contact: Carisa Josephs

Phone: (02) 6767 7135 or 0428 106 183