Te Puke Branch of NZ Society of Genealogists loses founding members

Fay Campbell and Bobbie Mawkes cutting the cake at the Te Puke Branch of the NZ Society of Genealogists 40th-birthday celebrations in 2018.

Te Puke Branch of NZ Society of Genealogists has lost two of its original members.

Fay Campbell was the founder of Genealogy in Te Puke in 1978 and Bobbie Mawkes was on the foundation committee.

They both died within a few days of each other in December. The benefits of their commitment to genealogy carry on to the present day.

Fay was born in September 1926 and died on Christmas Eve.

Fay joined the NZ Society of Genealogists in 1972 and attended the Tauranga Group. In 1978, she called a public meeting in Te Puke to see if there was interest in forming a group, so was the founder and first convener.

The group was officially recognised in 1979 when it became the 20th group of the NZ Society of Genealogists.

Over the years she served on the Te Puke committee constantly in various capacities and was made a branch life member in 1990.

From 1978 to 1992, she was a librarian for several sections of the NZ Society of Genealogists library, a postal service available to members and run from her home.

She lectured at seminars and open days for many years in the upper North Island.

Because she enjoyed going to auctions for old books, she had a large library of books and microfiche useful to genealogists, and many members used these at her home.

One task for the NZSG was as one of three judges for the Kevin McAnulty Award for the best published family history and judging the Lucy Marshall Award.

She was elected to the NZSG council in 1980 and served for eight years, five as vice-president. In 1982, she received a Merit Award and in 1986 was awarded life membership of NZSG. In 2002, she was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation.

Bobbie was born in March 1930 and died on December 19.

She was a foundation committee member of the Te Puke Branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists, convened in 1978.

In 1989, she was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation for assistance with transcribing school records and a Merit Award from the NZ society the same year.

When she joined the branch she also became a librarian both for the local branch and NZ Society of Genealogists for several sections of the library, which was a book-lending postal service, a position she held for 16 years.

She had been a committee member on numerous occasions and was convener of Te Puke Branch in 1994. In 1991, Bobbie was made a life member of the Te Puke Branch and a NZ Society Life member in 1995. From 1996 to 1998, Bobbie served on the NZSG council. Our local branch went on tours of up to a week’s duration to repositories and resource centres organised by Bobbie to Hamilton, Wellington and Auckland, always with great efficiency and success. She was a highly valued member of the Te Puke Branch. Her assistance on open days and at fundraising events was immeasurable.