Marie Boyce

Vale Marie Boyce

Marie died peacefully on Saturday 2nd June 2007 in Warrnambool, after a long illness.

Doug Holmes offers a perspective of Marie's genealogical achievements
Marie Therese Boyce, a very early member of the Warrnambool Family History Group, passed away on
2nd June 2007. Marie served in a number of positions on the executive of the group including time as the Treasurer and as the Area Administrator for around eight years. Under Marie’s proactive leadership the group went from strength to strength and its current strong position is a testament to the effort Marie put in to build it up into the vibrant body it is today. Marie worked tirelessly to gather resources for the group as can be seen when you look into our resources cupboards. She was very pleased to watch a new generation of members carrying on this work over the past few years. Marie compiled the Index of Death Notices from the Warrnambool Standard for around twenty years before handing it over for other members to continue in June of last year and collected obituries and a range of other resources as well.

Marie had a number of visions for the group including running cemetery walks, which she researched, wrote and delivered for some six years before her health stopped her from conducting them. Another major vision was the compilation and publication of a Pioneers Register which was achieved under the editorship of Margaret Jansen. A final vision that she worked on in her later days was a master index file based on an idea developed by Suzy Zada, this file currently contains some 8000 plus entries.

Marie has published over the years a large number of books and booklets on the history of Warrnambool and its inhabitants and was still working on a couple of books right up until her last days which will be published posthumously. The profits raised from the sale of these books have all gone to the group and members may be surprised to know this figure runs into some thousands of dollars over the years.

Over the years Marie had given talks to various other community groups on the subject of family history, ran beginners courses, organized seminars and open days and in general did everything she could to ensure the success of the Warrnambool Family History Group. Our debt to this wonderful lady is considerable and it was fitting that the first certificate of recognition for service to the group was presented to Marie.

Marie had battled cancer for some thirteen years on and off but never complained and had a positive attitude right up until the very end when she finally lost her battle with a lot of dignity and the support of her family and friends. Marie is survived by Jack, her husband of some fifty three years, five children and seven grandchildren, also her three sisters and two brothers.

Doug Holmes.

Vale Marie Boyce

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