NCWNZ Nelson Branch mourns the loss of their Life Member Queenie Ballance who died on 16th April 2023. She was well known and respected by many in NCWNZ.
Queenie joined NCW Auckland in 1985, representing Federation of University Women. She was the convenor of the NCWNZ Environment Standing Committee from 1992-1998 and, through her leadership, the members of NCWNZ became much more educated and proactive about conservation and environment issues. She served on the Auckland Branch Executive and was Branch President 1998-2000.
After retiring to Nelson for family reasons, Queenie joined Nelson NCW in 2002, serving as Branch secretary very ably for 11 years and continuing on the Executive for a further 5 years. During this time she was also a very active Convenor of the Local Issues Group. Her advocacy for social and environmental issues and her outstanding skills in collating and presenting submissions meant that our voice was heard and respected at the Local Government level.
Former National President Barbara Arnold recalls: "Queenie was a generous contributor of her time, knowledge and energy. She wrote some of the first submissions from NCWNZ (around 1993!) expressing concerns around climate change and the action that needed to be initiated - and she was a delightful companion as well.”
Queenie was awarded a QSM in 1999 for her conservation and Amnesty International work and received the very prestigious Old Blue award from Forest and Bird in 2009. She was recognised with a NCWNZ Distinguished Service award in 2012.
Queenie is remembered with great affection and respect for what she achieved but also how she did it - she was unfailingly supportive and encouraging to those she worked alongside, the ever reliable ‘go to person’ in many situations and a good friend to many.
Mary Gavin QSO
Nelson Branch Life Member
To read more articles from The Circular (May-June 2023) issue 641, click on the tag below.