FOR many years, Betty McLean was a familiar face at Wodonga Council, first as a councillor from 1977 to 1993, and later in the gallery where she continued to serve as a watchdog on decisions made at the council’s monthly meetings.
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But her influence in Albury-Wodonga went far beyond her service to local government.
Alongside her late husband Bob, an army officer who rose to the rank of colonel and area commander in Albury- Wodonga, Mrs McLean opened a women’s refuge in their home.
She combined the raising of their three children with a long-term involvement with organisations including the Country Women’s Association and Red Cross.
Mrs McLean practised her passion for social justice; not only serving on community committees but working in charity opportunity shops, washing and ironing clothes and sorting out goods for the Society of St Vincent de Paul or Upper Murray Family Care.
Close friend Jean Whitla recalled Mrs McLean’s perseverance in improving the lives of others, describing her as Wodonga’s social conscience.
Mrs McLean and her husband both lived their lives to serve and our community is poorer for her passing.
