The Eurobodalla community lost one of it’s most loved members with the passing of Walbunja Yuin elder Georgina Parsons, aka Aunty Coope, on Friday.
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Mrs Parson’s niece, fellow elder Loretta Parsley, said Mrs Parsons died in Moruya District Hospital at about 12.30pm.
She was aged in her late 70s.
“She was the loveliest person, a very gentle soul, but she always spoke her mind, and spoke up for her own people,” Ms Parsley said.
“She was an oracle of knowledge, a holder of information, and she always helped people who were down and out and took them in and supported them.”
Mrs Parsons was born in Batemans Bay to George Parsons and Jessie Chapman, and grew up at the Wallaga Lake mission.
“Her grandfather Dan Parsons was a whaler at Eden,” Ms Parsley said.
She spend most of her life in Moruya, and had seven children, Leanne, Rodney, Robert, Daphne, Norm, Jeannie and Dean.
She campaigned for Indigenous causes, such as fishing rights, and was well versed on the genealogy of the Walbunja people.
She was also a former Eurobodalla Senior Citizen of the Year.
“She was a proud Aboriginal women; a go-getter, a mover and shaker,” Ms Parsley said.
“She was proactive until she went to hospital, which was last Monday.
“She was loved by her family regardless of differences.”
Mrs Parsons was well known throughout the Eurobodalla community, having conducted the Welcome to Country ceremony at countless events.
“She was respectful to all people, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, and they were respectful to her,” Ms Parsley said.
“She will be sadly missed by us all.”
Arts Central’s David Cowley said Aunty Coope had been the cultural advisor at Art Central for 12 years, from its beginning.
“She also held regular art classes open to all—she will be sadly missed,” he said.
University of Wollongong Batemans Bay campus manager, Jaimey Facchin, said staff and students at the campus were saddened at the passing of Mrs Parsons.
“She will be remembered as a great supporter of education vital part of campus life, where she would often visit and share stories from her youth and the oral history of the land,” she said.
“She was part of a project to restore an cultural tradition, the making of a possum skin cloak, that will help people from the region understand more about its Indigenous history and culture.
“Above all, she was a lovely person who contributed much to education in the region.”
Mrs Parsons will be farewelled at a service at St John’s Anglican Church, Moruya, on Tuesday, August 23.
Send your tributes for Georgina Parsons to josh.gidney@fairfaxmedia.com.au.