Sometimes you just have to tell your own stories…
Marg Molloy, one of our longest residents on the Western Shores died on April 14. An obituary appeared and Bays News published an interview with Marge, first published in Pittwater Online News in 2012. However the memories of Marg in the Bays also deserve a little space. Her time here in Little Lovett Bay was impactful, high spirited and memorable.
One of her neighbours, Leisa Stranack, has recalled some of her memories of living 3 doors down from Marg.
“Marg embodied the authentic nature of ‘Offshore Spirit’. She represented Community, in the true sense of the word. Her door was always open, a cuppa always offered but a glass of wine always preferred. She was larger than life and so were her many stories and I believe nearly all of them were true!
Image courtesy of Kylie Stackhouse
She babysat my kids so I could do a Woody Point race and gave them pocket money to sweep her decks when they were older, I feel grateful that we were all able to learn of her incredible adventures, hardships and joys.
Marg loved her rituals and bringing the community together – be it at her legendary Christmas Carol singalongs, where her sharp wit and writing talents saw local events and neighbours, woven into her hysterical lyrics – or at her annual Easter Egg hunts for the neighbourhood kids.
A stickler for good manners and etiquette, she was fabulous, feisty and opinionated. Always engaging, interested in everything and everyone. Sharp as a tack right up to the end, despite, or maybe because of the fact, she survived on whisky and ice cream for the last few weeks of her life!
She was the much-loved Queen of the Bay. The world is a less colourful place without you Marg”.
Image courtesy of Kylie Stackhouse
Lisa Atkins also remembered the fabled piano soirees at Marg’s place. ‘She would play the piano by ear having never learnt to read music, dressed in the most colourful patterned flowing dresses which came always came out when the occasion demanded it. And she loved nothing better than a tipple of whiskey every afternoon. And telling tales of attending Charles and Di’s wedding.
But Marg was not just a raconteur. She was a doer. When it looked like the West Pittwater Fire Brigade would be without a fireboat, Marg leapt into action. There were soirées and dinners of all descriptions organised and run with all proceeds flowing back to the Brigade until there were sufficient funds to replace the base of the boat. The boat was then named the ‘Margaret Molloy’ in her honour.
Marg also had the WPCA AGM in her appointment diary and would never leave the meeting without a big thank you speech to all the Committee for their work through the year. The speech rarely started without ‘as the oldest and longest resident living on the Western Foreshorses’. This always pipped Elvina Bay resident Beth Franklin who felt that she, while not the longest, was the oldest resident living here.
Marg was a one-off and a lady of another time that we may never see again.
Gill Croft, another neighbour of Marg’s specifically remembers the day Marg came to stay with herself and husband Rick in Brighton when she visited the UK for Charles and Diana’s wedding. “Rick drove her up to St Paul’s early in the morning. She appeared back that afternoon, radiant! Not only had she a wonderful seat in the Press Gallery for the wedding, she met a woman, neighbour to Prince Charles at Highgrove, who invited her to the Ritz for lunch afterwards. I shall never forget her appearance that afternoon, she was so so happy.
Ferry Boss Penny Gleen (and Lovett Bay resident until recently) also recalled for BaysNews her memories of Marg. She too had been a frequent guest at Marg’s Xmas Carols and vividly remembers Marg belting them out like Ella Fitzgerald, whilst accompanying herself on the piano. But as Penny recalls they also had a personal business relationship.
‘When we bought the ferry service we inherited Marg, and her wharf stop. It wasn’t on the official run but Lenny Duck used to do it as favour for her and the family, something she never actually realised until they moved to Little Lovett Bay full time. And it continued to be a private service gift that was appreciated and graciously received – this being The Way of the Bays.
Whilst Marg was so very proud of her O.A.M (and rightly so) she told my kids that it stood for ‘Old Aunty Margaret’. That pretty much sums up Marg. Always kind, always generous, and never too high in the instep.
Margaret receiving her OAM from the Governor of New South Wales, the Honourable Marie Bashir. Image courtesy of Pittwater Online News
I wish I had know Marg when she was younger. She told such amazing stories like going to Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s wedding, teaching deportment in a Women’s Prison, and staying with the Armstrong’s in the U.S (You know, Neil’s folks…). She helped so many people, not only by raising money for charity, but also directly. And it wasn’t forgotten. One local character, who is thought to be the toughest of the tough, would always make sure Marg had enough firewood, stacked close to her house, because of her kindness to him when he was a boy.
I have often wondered how long someone’s house continues to be referred to as “Marg’s place” after you move out, but I think that, along with the Mottle house, Marg’s house will remain Marg’s house, as she will live on in our hearts for a very long time.’
A big thanks to Leisa, Gill, Penny and Lisa for the memories….
In case you missed it:
Family and friends are invited to attend a Commemorative Ferry procession to celebrate Margaret’s life at Pittwater, the place she loved best.
The ferry, kindly provided by Penny from Church Point Ferry Service, will leave Church Point Wharf at 10am.
Date: 22nd May, 2023,
Commencing at 10:00 am at Church Point.
RSVP is essential to determine the size of ferry required.
RVSP to: marg.molloy.commemoration.rsvp@gmail.com
Feature Image: Margaret Molloy with friends Paul and Tracy Smith and Kylie Stackhouse at her Lovett Bay home 2017
Special thanks to Kylie Stackhouse for Photos