Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a very sad occasion today to pay my respects to a very dear woman: Betty Bollenhagen from South Australia. Betty was a loving wife, mother and grandmother and also a lifelong volunteer loved by all who knew her.

Betty Bollenhagen was born on 5 January 1938 and, sadly, passed away on 10 March 2011 aged 73 years. Betty will be sadly missed by her family but also greatly missed by all the people and community groups with which she was involved. Betty became involved in the Scout Movement at 18 years of age and remained involved for the next 50-odd years. She became a cub leader and then became a pack leader within the Scout Movement. She was honoured by the Scout Movement for her tireless contribution and her 50-years of service a few years ago.

In 1998 Betty joined the Active Elders, a senior citizens movement based in the Ascot Park area in my electorate. It is the group through which she and I became acquainted and became very good friends. Clearly seeing her tremendous capacity for volunteer effort, she was made secretary program officer of the club one year later and remained in that position right up until her passing. Betty and her husband, Malcolm, worked tirelessly, raising funds to subsidise the Active Elders group’s club rooms, recreational equipment, social gatherings and outings that gave so much joy to senior citizens in my electorate. One fundraising effort that I helped with I can recall quite clearly involved the gathering of hundreds upon hundreds of newspapers, bundling them together and selling them in 10-tonne lots to a packaging company to raise funds to support the club. It is amazing the strength of the Active Elders club in bundling tonne upon tonne of newspaper, lugging it from their club storage area and throwing it up onto the back of a truck. These pensioners really are active and are highly respected, and Betty Bollenhagen was always at the centre of the activity.

Betty was named Citizen of the Year by the City of West Torrens, and received numerous awards and accolades from various groups and associations recognising her tireless volunteering efforts. Betty fought and lived through three bouts of cancer over recent years, but finally succumbed to that most persistent of scourges.

Her funeral was held at Centennial Park on Friday, 18 March and was attended by hundreds. She is survived by her husband, Malcolm, and three children—Robert, Peter and Helen—and grandchildren. Betty Bollenhagen was one of the dearest and most delightful people one could ever hope to meet—full of life; full of love. She will, indeed, be very sadly missed by all in the community in our area.