MARGARET HATEŽIČ

NSW  Slovenian Outstanding Senior Citizen of the Year  2009
Planica Wollongong

 

Margaret  Hatežič was born in 1944 in Maribor, Slovenia.
The life in Maribor just after the war was not easy. The whole family, mother, father, Margaret and her two sisters crossed the border into Austria soon after and they decided to go to Australia.

Margaret's father found work at the steelworks in Port Kembla, while Margaret worked in a restaurant in Melbourne. After her father built a house in the Wollongong area, Margaret joined the family there.

At that time Slovenians in the Wollongong area were organised as the Slovenian Association »Danica«. Margaret's family joined in the activities, attended Slovenian Holy Masses, social gatherings and other functions.

In 1965, Margaret married Marjan Hatežič. They had two daughters and a son, who were all brought up in the Slovenian tradition, attending Slovenian school and speaking Slovenian at home. The whole family was very active in the Slovenian club both the current »Planica» and the original association »Danica». The children performed in the club's choir and at club's functions and celebrations. Margaret was at first the club's treasurer and later the club's secretary for ten years, up until 2009, when her health problems forced her to quit her work.

Margaret also started the archives for the Slovenian Community in Wollongong and gathered a great number of histories of Australian Slovenians from the Wollongong area. To do her archivist job well, she also attended the archivist seminar in Slovenia.

In 2008, when the Slovenian church of ALL SAINTS in Figtree celebrated its 25th anniversary, Margaret compiled the history of the church and wrote a book »V zavetju vseh svetnikov« (with a great number of photos and stories of the events and of the people involved with the church). The book, written partly in English and partly in Slovenian, was a great success  among Slovenians in Australia and brought Margaret a lot of recognition in the circles of historians in Slovenia.

Margaret Hatežič je dobra, zavedna Slovenka, ki nikoli ni pozabila svojih korenin in je tudi svoje otroke vzgojila v slovenskem duhu.  S svojim delom v društvu Planica in z zbiranjem in ohranjevanjem slovenske zgodovine v Australiji, je napravila neizmerno delo za Slovensko skupnost, za katero res zasluži naše spoštovanje in priznanje.

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