Mary Heywood Shaw
General Notes: Mary Shaw - 102nd birthday (Notes sent to the local paper by her niece Joan Chambers) Mary filled most of her 102 years working for her community and people with problems. Topping the State in History in her final year at school, she graduated at Melbourne University and became a teacher. During the second world war, she worked at the munition factory in Maribyrnong. After the war, she completed further study to become an almoner (social worker) at the Womens' and Alfred hospitals - often going home with discharged patients in a taxi to ensure they had food and settled in OK ( at her own expense and in her own time). She was an active member of the ALP until she went into special accommodation in her mid nineties. All her life, she was also active in the Congregational (later the Uniting) church, helping countless individuals with physical or mental disabilities.(One niece describes her as 'the nearest to a saint she knows').
Chronology: She worked as a Deacon in Congregational Church, Elsternwick. 3 She worked as a Medical Social Worker in Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne. 3 |