AFTER a long battle with pancreatic cancer, local icon Viv Maher passed away at Ashford hospital in Adelaide on Wednesday evening.
Devoted husband Jim has invited relatives and friends to share in a celebration of her life at the Icehouse basketball stadium tomorrow morning.
“She had grand plans for a big birthday bash this weekend, but it is not to be,” Mr Maher said.
“We have organised a service in Mount Gambier to celebrate Viv.
“As a family we are incredibly proud to have been a part of such a remarkable life.”
An impassioned social worker and social rights activist, Viv championed social justice for people of all backgrounds and all walks of life.
Born in Warragul, a small town 100km east of Melbourne, she pursued a career in social work after high school.
Accepted into a combined law and social work degree, Viv eschewed the legal side and instead chose commerce as a fitting counterpart to social work because it allowed her insight into what was possible for governments to do.
At university, Viv indulged in a passion for learning and all things literary and academic.
It was during her third year at university she met Jim at an end of semester party.
After a whirlwind romance which culminated in marriage less than 12 months after they met, the pair were inseparable.
As Viv entered her final year of university, Jim was given the opportunity to move to Port Moresby to help establish the government’s first computer systems.
When Jim and Viv arrived in Papua New Guinea in 1972, the country was an external territory of Australia, grappling with the concept of independence from the mainland.
Viv completed her studies externally, flying home for exams, and landed a vacant social work job at the Port Moresby hospital.
The couple’s first son Kyam was born in the newly independent Papua New Guinea in December and the following February Viv received funding to set up and teach at a fieldwork unit at the University of Papua New Guinea.
After two and half years in Port Moresby, the young family moved back to Australia to be closer to Viv’s ailing father.
Viv picked up work at Frankston Hospital and was shocked at the old fashioned mentality of senior doctors.
Nurses were not permitted to give unmarried mothers pain relief and Viv took the issue as far as the hospital board, which forced a change in practices.
While in Melbourne, Jim and Viv’s second son Cameron was born and shortly after his birth the growing family moved to the Adelaide Hills.
There Viv set up her own small commune, where she learnt stained glass art, undertook a Montessori teacher aide course, milked the cow, tended to livestock and cultivated fruit and vegetables.
After the arrival of their third son Gibram, the pair made the move to Mount Gambier, where they have lived for more than 30 years.
Jim and Viv became involved in all aspects of Mount Gambier life, representing the Australian Labor Party as well as championing social justice for women and the indigenous population.
The Labor stalwarts were awarded life membership of the South Australian branch of the ALP in 2013.
In 2016, Viv became South Australia’s first life member of the Australian Association for Social Workers.
She was honoured at the 2016 NAIDOC celebrations.
ALP state leader Penny Wong paid tribute to Viv in a heartfelt statement yesterday.
“Viv, I want you to know I’ve always admired you,” Ms Wong said.
“You were a strong woman, a feminist and you lived your values.”
The relatives and friends of Viv Maher are invited to share in a celebration of her life at the Icehouse basketball stadium tomorrow at 11.30am.
