Page 2526 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 13 August 2014
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I know that Moira believed in supporting the good work of clinicians at the Canberra Hospital and this really drove her passion at the foundation. This job was perfect for her and she delivered in spades. It was through her leadership of the Canberra Hospital Foundation that I first met Moira. In life sometimes you meet people who make an impact on you. For me, Moira was one of these people. No job was too hard or too small, everyone and everything was important—to listen to, to learn from, to treat respectfully. Her team was absolutely devoted to her, which is always a sign of a good leader.
I watched Moira work over the years to build the Canberra Hospital Foundation into what it is today—a highly successful and reputable charity arm raising much needed funds for our local hospital. At the opening of the cancer centre last week Moira’s touch was there, even though she was not, as the Canberra Hospital Foundation donated 40 recliner chairs across the centre to make sure people receiving cancer treatment and their families are as comfortable as possible while visiting the hospital.
In the past three years or so Moira achieved all of this at the foundation whilst undergoing relentless and aggressive treatment for cancer. Some days she would even leave her desk to go and have chemo or radiotherapy before returning to her duties, and always with a smile on her face. She never hid her illness and she did not complain, although she had more than enough reasons to do so. She dealt with her illness like she dealt with everything in life—with optimism, hope, laughter and a fierce determination to get on with the day, even if that meant including having to deal with the cancer treatment and all that that meant.
Moira was an incredibly brave person. I often wondered where she found the strength and courage—and then I saw her with her husband and her children and I did not wonder anymore. They were the love of her life—Greg, her devoted husband, and their five incredible children—Maddie, Zach, Harry, Sebastian and Oliver. She simply adored her family. Whenever we caught up we would end up talking about the children, how they were, who was the naughtiest—always easy for me to answer that one—and our hopes for them as they grew up. She could not bear the thought of leaving them all, yet as her illness progressed she tried in her own gentle and pragmatic way to prepare them for that day.
In April the Lye family helped Canberra to welcome the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to the National Arboretum. Sebastian and Oliver helped plant the oak tree and I think they really stole the show on that day. I remember looking up and seeing Moira, Greg and the kids all looking so proud and happy on that day. The gorgeous photo of the twins on the front page of the Canberra Times the next day remains my favourite front page ever because I know how proud Moira was of her family that day. Moira told me later that she would treasure those memories forever.
On 11 July a celebration and thanksgiving service was held for Moira’s life. We gathered to remember Moira, to honour her and to pay our respect to her family. Moira had organised most of the arrangements herself, generous as always. As members would know, St Christopher’s is a very hard church to fill but that morning it was filled to overflowing as hundreds and hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the life of such an incredible woman and to support each other in our grief. It was an incredibly touching service.
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