Tomorrow is the day of the funeral of my mother. All the family is now back in New Zealand and so at 1130 at St David’s Church in Khyber Pass we will farewell her.
Mum was a committed Christian, one whose faith never wavered. She had no fear of dying and spent her last days happy that she had led a life filled with helping others.
She had spent her life giving. If it wasn’t being a wonderful mother to me and my siblings or a wonderful grandmother then it was being a surrogate mother and grandmother to the kids of our neighbourhood.
Later after all us kids went our separate ways as we grew up Mum spent an awful lot of her time helping others through her Church, St Davids, along with a considerable amount of time acting as a JP and sitting on the bench.
But the Church was her passion. She was an Elder and was Session Clerk at St Davids in Khyber Pass.
The past few years she has been working towards building a school on the site. The current buildings are dilapidated and really should be torn down. For years the church debated fundraising for the millions required to restore and renovate the existing buildings. It was my Mum, ever the practical Presbyterian, who suggested tearing down the crumbling buildings and building a new school in its place, with a space for a chapel/church inside it.
With all the new inner city developments the existing schools in the inner city are overcrowded and over flowing. There is a desperate need for new schools, especially schools for Years 1-8, but being in developed areas of the city there is simply no land available. This was a win/win situation for everyone. The community gets a new integrated school, the church gets new buildings and the inner city also gets the benefit of a vibrant school/church based community revitalising the area.
This was Mum’s vision and so she set about making it happen…and she very nearly got to see it through to its conclusion. Just a few months ago the school, for Years 1-8 received approval from the Ministry of Education…there are still a few hurdles to overcome, but the school is going to be built….and the old church is going to come down. It was her vision and now it should be her legacy.
Since Mum was so passionate about building the school and offering new educational opportunities in the inner city we decided to set up a fund and take donations to help establish it.
Accordingly Westpac have set up an account for the Margaret Slater Memorial Education Fund.
If you wish to make a donation to assist the fund and Mum’s aims of furthering inner city educational opportunities then the account details are as follows:
Margaret Slater Memorial Education Fund
03-0259-0370860-00
We have gladly contributed to Margaret's Memorial Fund. Education is a key to the future of our country, and we are happy to play a small part in Margaret Slater's dream being realised, even though she will not be here to see it realised.
We urge readers to consider doing likewise. And in the meantime, we extend our thoughts, prayers and aroha to the Slater family as they prepare to farewell their wife, mother and grandmother. May they be comforted by the faith that Margaret held, even in her dying days. And may they all experience the peace that passes human understanding.
Arohanui Margaret Slater; may your legacy live on for many, many years.
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