Good Sorts - Lorraine Morgan

As a child Waimate Volunteer Lorraine Morgan (85), saw her mother volunteer and be there for people in the community, making her want to do the same. Lorraine was born in February 1939 at the Geraldine Maternity Hospital. She grew up in Rangitata and went to Rangitata Primary School until 1954, when her parents sold the Rangitata Store they owned and moved to Timaru. On moving to Timaru she attended Waimataitai School for three years, then Marchwiel School for 18 months and finished her education at Timaru Girls High School. Lorraine said as a teenager she was very keen on sport and in her last year at Marchwiel School she played in the South Canterbury rep Basketball (known as Netball today) team. She said she also played in the Timaru Girls High School Team and when she left school she played for Timaru Star Basketball Team. “I was also in rep teams and played in various tournaments, in Timaru, Ashburton and Christchurch.”

When Lorraine left Timaru Girls High School, she became a typist at the Timaru City Council in the Engineers Department and then worked at Scott and Stevens Solicitors in Timaru. She got engaged on her 21st birthday and then married Barrie Morgan in 1961, who was a Waimate farmer, from Norton Reserve. Waimate then became her home, and in 1962 she gave birth to their twin sons David and Peter at the Waimate Maternity Hospital. They then had Garry, Glenda and Sharyn. All her children were educated at Waimate Kindergarten, Waimate Main School, and Waimate High School.

Lorraine said that over the years she often helped her husband on their farm. She said when their children were older, she started working at the Waimate Hospital as a Medical Typist and looked after the hospitals medical records. “It was meant to be a relieving job, for supposedly two weeks. That two-week job became a permanent job for 15 years.”

Lorraine was introduced to volunteering when she was a child living in Rangitata by her mother who was involved in the Rangitata Country Women’s Institute (CWI) and their church. She said each week she would go with her mother to the Rangitata Hall to join other ladies in the community volunteer. “We would wrap up fruit cakes that they had made in newspaper and then sew them into sacking, to be posted to local men and family members who were fighting in World War Two.”

At the age of 15, Lorraine also volunteered as a Basketball referee at the Caroline Bay courts. On leaving High School she became a Cub leader at the St Phillips Church Cubs and was involved in church Bibleclass camps and dances. Also as a teenager she was involved in Seadown Country Girls Club and would attend Young Farmers and Country Girls Club Dances along with Bibleclass dances on a Saturday night.

Lorraine was also Secretary for the Lindisfarne Camp Building near Cave, which was initially built by South Canterbury Presbyterian Bibleclasses. She said members would spend their weekends there building, painting, cooking etc. Other committees Lorraine was on before she moved to Waimate include the South Canterbury Bibleclass committee, the South Canterbury Basketball committee, and the Timaru High School Old Girls Committee, Waimate Branch.

In Waimate she was the Secretary for Waimate Plunket Mothers, held offices for Willowbridge CWI and was involved in Primary and High School events when her children were at school. Lorraine said she continued to be involved in the Presbyterian church, as she was president and secretary for the Waimate Knox Association of Presbyterian Women (APW). She said she was also the Knox church Rev Scott Thomson and Rev Bob Reid’s secretary.

“I would type newsletters on an old Royal typewriter and we would usually print 80 100 newsletters weekly and would staple them together on Saturday night ready to hand them out at church each Sunday. Lorraine was also involved in the New Zealand, American Field Service (AFS), Student Exchange Programme as student coordinator for the South Canterbury committee for 30 years. “I had the privilege of escorting 90 AFS students from Auckland to Los Angeles, United Stated of America (USA) and then escorted 75 students from the USA back to New Zealand,” she said.

About three years ago Lorraine helped to form and became the secretary of Waimate Cancer Companions which started off with four interested members and now has a membership of over thirty people.

She also volunteers for the Waimate Branch of Timaru Girls High School Old Girls and has been their president. Other groups she is involved in and volunteers for are Meals on Wheels, the Waimate Friendship Club and the Waimate Garden Club. This year she received a Waimate District Council Civic Award. Lorraine said she enjoys volunteering because she gets to help people, while making new friends and socialising.

She said she has always volunteered as it was the way she was bought up, as she always saw her mother volunteering or helping others when they were unwell or going through a bereavement. “However, when my husband Barrie passed away, I found living on my own lonely, so one day I realised I had two options; I could either sit in a chair all day and feel sorry for myself or I could seek company and get involved in the community, meet new people and work with them.” If you would like to contact Lorraine about anything she is currently involved in please contact her on 0212353591.

She believes Waimate people are very friendly people, who are willing to help where they can. “Waimate offers opportunities for everyone to enjoy, it offers different workshops, a great library, most sporting activities, and it’s not far to go to experience the wide-open spaces. It also provides most amenities or Timaru and Oamaru are only half an hour away,” she said. By Amelia King.