by Rosemary Phillis
Judith Lewis passed away on 13 July this year, just before her 80th birthday. With her passing we have lost a teacher, community leader, role model and friend. She was a unique lady who made a difference to so many, especially her students.
At the annual Riverstone Festival each year, people would come to the Historical Society stall just to say hello to Judith. She remembered them all and was always delighted to see them.
The story of Judith’s life appeared in our 2009 Journal. Judith’s story didn’t stop there, it was always a work in progress, as she never stopped. No matter how bad her health became, she still turned up to run our Historical Society meetings and to catalogue books in our library at the Museum. When I gave a speech to Year 8 students at the local high school last year I spoke of Judith as an example of “get up, dress up, show up”, no matter how bad you feel.
We will remember Judith for her leadership, her love of Riverstone, her students and our community. We will also remember her laughter, smile and the twinkle in eyes.
Judith wrote an article for every one of our Historical Society Journals. She was still writing articles for the Society just before she passed away and we proudly include two of them in this Journal.
