Muswellbrook is mourning the loss of one of its most respected and community-minded long-term residents, Margaret Tasker, who died on August 8 at 91 years of age.
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Growing up in West Pennant Hills in Sydney, Margaret (nee Allum) met her future husband George Tasker at a dance in 1952 and they were inseparable since.
Margaret was an accomplished seamstress and a clerk at MLC, but the couple decided that George's opportunities as a pharmacist were better for the family. They moved to Muswellbrook in February 1954.
They intended to be in Muswellbrook for just two years and then return to Sydney. But fate, and the Muswellbrook community, had other ideas and they remained for 63 years.
For many years Margaret was President of Torchbearers for Legacy, an organisation she was passionate about because of her father's service in WWI. She was active in Meals on Wheels, the Art Gallery and in Inner Wheel, a women's organisation similar to Rotary. Margaret's citizenship and her support of George in Rotary was recognised in 2015 when she received the prestigious Paul Harris Fellowship.
Margaret was also a founding member of the Muswellbrook Embroiderers' Guild in 1982 and was awarded life membership in 2007.
Members of the Guild fondly remember Margaret's special role in their bi-annual exhibition. Morning and afternoon teas were served on tables covered with embroidered tablecloths and each table was decorated with a stunning floral arrangement created by Margaret. The flowers were always from Margaret's garden in King Street.
Margaret's friends remember her as a stylish and elegant woman, an attentive listener and sympathetic friend.
In their 80s, Margaret and George moved back to the Hills District of Sydney for reasons of health care. Margaret passed away on August 8, nearly three months after George and just short of her 92nd birthday. Their ashes will be placed in the St Alban's columbarium.
Margaret is survived by daughter Jude (and husband Andrew), son Geoff (and wife Kathy), granddaughters Annie and Holly, and brother Don (and wife Barbara).