Obituary: Gwenda Margaret Atkinson

Gwenda Margaret Atkinson

Gwenda Margaret Atkinson
Journalist.
Died aged 59

There will be few parts of the Thames community not touched by the whirlwind that was Gwenda Atkinson.

What she lacked in stature - "I'm not short, you're all just well above average height ... " - Mrs Atkinson certainly made up for in energy.

As a journalist, firstly at the New Plymouth Daily News and lastly as editor of the Hauraki Herald, she would say this next sentence was "fluffy gobbledegook". But Mrs Atkinson was indeed a kind and gentle woman who touched the hearts of others and who actually made a difference to how people lived, worked and dreamed.

Born in Stratford, the eldest of two, she trained as a teacher before moving into journalism.

She married Ted in 1974 and the couple moved from Taranaki to Te Anau and then Thames.

"I only like places that start with T," she told many, many of her staff. Probably more than once.

For Mrs Atkinson, life centred around her family. Husband Ted, her six children, their children and more recently their children, were the rocks that she said kept her grounded.

But her definition of "family" did not just include her kin.

She had 180 "pet lambs" on the farmlet she and her husband bought 20 years ago in the Kauaeranga Valley, not to mention all the other animals and her beloved dog Holly.

She grew a rather large family in the journalism world too.

The number of reporters that started their careers in Thames with Mrs Atkinson as their mentor would stretch to more than a hundred.

They now work all over the country at various radio stations, public relations firms and newspapers, including this one.

Originally a teacher, Mrs Atkinson taught many a cadet reporter the art of the apostrophe with patience and dedication. Tenses, adjectives and pronouns were hammered home over and over in the small office she commanded for more than 20 years.

When she wasn't writing news stories, Mrs Atkinson was fundraising through the Zonta club she helped found, and comforting those in need in her role as Victim Support worker.

She was fun-loving, music-loving and animal-loving.

She was a helper, a doer and a mother-hen to all those who needed a little bit of TLC. Anytime, any place. And she never stopped.

Cancer battled with Mrs Atkinson for many years before it won.

She died at her home last Sunday.